A Different Life
by Charma1219
Summary: Severus Snape reluctantly saves 5-year-old Harry Potter from his relatives
1. Predictions

A Different Life  
  
Chapter 1 - Predictions  
  
".And thankyou to you all, and do have a wonderful break." Albus Dumbledore said after the professors had finished their end -of-school-year meeting.  
  
The twinkles in Dumbledore's eyes were duller then normal, but still sparkling as he watched everyone getting up and heading for the door.  
  
Only Severus Snape had noticed something was bothering him, but after one more long, hard look at the professor in front of him, he too got up, and joined the mass heading to the door, but he barely got two steps when he heard Dumbledore call his name out, indicating to come over to him again.  
  
Snape only nodded and went to stand in front of the headmaster's desk. Curious as to what the headmaster was about to ask of him. For out of his three years of working here at Hogwarts being the Potions master, he had gotten quite close with the old man sitting in front of him, and he knew the professor well enough to know when he was about to be asked of something, but he had no doubt that he would end up doing whatever was asked of him, he not only owed it to the professor, but Albus had a way of convincing him to do things anyway, he swore that he could read minds. But his train of thought was cut off as Dumbledore began to speak again.  
  
"Severus I must ask of you to do something for me, now I only ask you because you are part of a select group whom I trust, and you are the only one out of that group who as far as I know, do not have any plans for tonight. Professor McGonagall is leaving for a trip to Italy tonight, Professor Quirrell I believe has just left now for his trip around Europe, Remus is recovering from a transformation."  
  
At the mention of Lupin's name a wave of disgust came over Snape's face, but he held in what he wanted to say, knowing Dumbledore would not approve, so Severus forced himself to focus on what Dumbledore was saying.  
  
".and I have an important meeting to attend to soon, and I'm not sure when I will get back and that leaves you, now what I want you to do has to be done tonight, at night time, as not to disturb anyone." Albus continued  
  
"Albus, what is it exactly that you want me to do?" Snape said, trying to get straight to the point.  
  
Albus took a deep breath. "I would like you to check on Harry Potter."  
  
Snape's eyes were in danger of falling out of their sockets; he couldn't believe what Dumbledore had just asked. Why would he want him to check on that spoiled, annoying brat? He would rather have dinner with Trelawney then go anywhere near that boy, let alone go to his home and have to see the stuck-up Potter, in a place where he was treated like a king. He knew he was being a bit harsh, as he had never met the boy, but he was James' son, he couldn't be very far off. But one look at Dumbledore's determined face and he knew that he could either agree, and get it over with, or fight with him, until he was exhausted, and then have to go do it anyway. And he didn't have the energy right then to fight with him. But that didn't mean he didn't want answers.  
  
"Why? Is there a problem?" Snape asked, trying to sound as if he cared, but the sarcasm was still evident.  
  
"Well, to tell you the truth, I'm not sure. That is what I would like you to find out." Dumbledore said, worry seeping of in his voice, ignoring the fact that Severus didn't seem to care for what he was being asked to do.  
  
Snape looked curiously at the man in front of him "Then what makes you think there is anything wrong at all?"  
  
"Severus, please just trust me on this, I will tell you everything when you get back, I just need you to hurry, if what I heard is correct, time isn't with us on this. I would just like you to sneak in, make sure Harry is alright, then go back out, preferably without them knowing, that is why I would like you to go now, since it is late, they will hopefully all be asleep.  
  
If however, what I believe to have happened has indeed happened, then I would like you to bring him back here immediately." Dumbledore said, his eyes now showed no sparkles.  
  
Snape was shocked at what Dumbledore had just said, a hundred questions were going through his mind, what did he believe had happened to Potter? Why didn't he want anyone to see him? Who had told him that they thought Potter was in trouble? But he knew that Dumbledore was sitting patiently, waiting for him to tell him if he would or wouldn't, and he also knew he couldn't say no, which only made him angrier, not at Dumbledore, but at himself.  
  
He nodded, not trusting himself to speak without asking all the questions he wanted.  
  
He silently left the room, his robes billowing behind him, the sooner he left, the sooner he would be back. He only barely heard as he left Dumbledore mutter "I really hope I'm wrong" which only added more curiosity to Snape's already curious mind, maybe Potter was in trouble? Could he have been wrong about him?  
  
No, he knew Dumbledore liked Potter, just like he had James, he knew that Albus was just being overprotective of the boy, but now there was a little bit of doubt etched into his mind, maybe, just maybe something was wrong with Potter?  
  
*********************************************************** 5-year-old Harry sat on his bed, inside his room, silently crying. He didn't understand why his uncle kept punishing him. He really had tried to finish all his chores before he arrived home from work, but he only had got through half of them. He had even missed lunch to try to get them all done, while his fat cousin sat around, eating everything in site, watching TV and pushing Harry around whenever he was on his way to the kitchen to get more food.  
  
When his uncle had got home and found that half of Harry's chores were un- finished, he had gotten so mad, even Dudley had gone up into his room, afraid at the look on his fathers face. Harry couldn't blame him, all he wanted to do was run away and hide, but he knew he would have to face this sooner or later, and later would only make his uncle angrier, so Harry stayed, and let his uncle hit him again, and again, until he had had enough, throwing Harry into his cupboard and locking it.  
  
That was two days ago, and Harry was so very hungry. He could barely move, as every time he did, he had a spasm of pain. But pain was no stranger to Harry, ever since his uncles business had started to go down the drain he had taken his anger out on Harry.  
  
Harry knew it was late, and even had an idea of sneaking out and getting some food, but two things stopped him, one, he thought he heard a door open outside and footsteps, so he knew someone was awake, and two, he didn't even think he could get up if he wanted to, he didn't have the energy, and it wasn't worth the pain, he could only hope that his aunt had pity on him and let him out in the morning, for he knew his uncle wouldn't.  
  
He let out a whimper as he felt tears of despair falling down his checks, and as he did every night before he went to sleep, he prayed to someone, anyone that would listen, to rescue him. He then fell into an uneasy sleep.  
  
**********************************************************  
  
Snape entered the house of Privet Drive, after apparating into an alleyway nearby. On the outside the house looked like a normal muggle house, and after using a spell to open the front door, it looked normal enough inside, but after walking around, he noticed that there only seemed like there were three people living in the house, in the pictures, there was only ever one boy and two adults, and that boy looked nothing like either Lily or James', so Snape could only assume that this was Potter's cousin.  
  
He looked all around downstairs and saw no one, assuming that all the bedrooms were up-stairs, he began to make his way up the stairs, as quietly as possible, not forgetting what Dumbledore had asked him about not being seen. On the way up the stairs, he thought he heard crying from inside the cupboard, but as soon as he heard it, it was gone, so he quickly dismissed it. He didn't want to be in the house any longer then he had to, he just wanted to find Potter and then be able to leave.  
  
Up on the second floor, he saw four doors, one was open, which was a bathroom.  
  
Snape went to the one closest to him, which once opened, revealed two adults soundly sleeping, he quietly shut the door, and went to the next one, when he opened it, he was amazed by three things, one was that he had never seen so many toys in one room before, another one was he couldn't believe how big the boy was for his age and the last one was, he couldn't believe how loud his snoring was. It was even worse then Lucius Malfoy's, and that was saying something, he often wished they didn't have to sleep in the same dormitory, but Snape quickly shook his Hogwarts days out of his head and also quickly concluded that this boy was not Potter, assuming that the last door was Potter's, he quietly shut the door and headed towards the next and final one.  
  
Opening that one to, he was again shocked; he didn't think he had ever seen so many broken toys! Looking around he saw no sign that anyone living there; there wasn't really anything in there besides broken toys.  
  
He started to get a tiny bit worried, though he would never admit that to anyone. Where was Potter? He thought that he must have missed a room downstairs, he again made his way down there,  
  
He was about to go into the kitchen when he walked pass the cupboard where he had heard the noise from before. He immediately shook the thought that was entering his mind away, no one was that cruel as to place a child in a cupboard when there was a perfectly good room upstairs, and surely not Potter's relatives.right? But he found himself moving closer to the cupboard, he went to open it but found it locked. Who locks their cupboard? Dread starting to fill him, he muttered the same spell as to what he had used to open the front door, and looked inside; it was to dark to see anything, so he muttered another spell and a light appeared at the end of his wand.  
  
What he saw was enough to make him fall over in shock, which was beginning to happen a lot to Snape in this house. The cupboard was really small, there was nothing in there but a tiny mattress which he guessed was meant to be a bed, and a little boy who looked badly beaten, holding onto a small thin blanket as he slept, one leg dangling off the side of the mattress, facing Snape. Snape then knew why Dumbledore wanted him to go tonight, it was obvious that the boy had been beaten badly. He quietly called the boys name, trying to wake him up, just to make sure that it was indeed Potter.  
  
"Potter? Potter, wake up" that didn't seem to work, so he put his arm on his shoulder, horrified at how thin it was, and lightly shook him, but with the effect that it had, he immediately wished he hadn't. The boy woke up with a yelp, and quickly moved away in pain. Looking frightened at him.  
  
They just stared at each other for a few minutes, Snape in shock, and Harry seemed too scared to speak.  
  
It looked like the boy was using up a significant amount of energy just to stay awake; he looked so weak and helpless. It was obvious that this was indeed Potter, he looked just like James', a mirror image. He could also see the scar on his forehead that had made him so famous. He even had the same type of frames for glasses as James' always did, though Harry's looked broken. Snape knew the boy wasn't going to be able to stay awake much longer, so he decided to quickly introduce himself, so he could try and get him to talk, tell him where he was hurt. He could already tell that his ankle was badly hurt, as it was on the side that had been dangling in front of him before he had moved, it looked as if it was badly sprained from the bruising and swelling around it.  
  
"H-Harry?" For the first time in a long time, I actually stuttered. "My name in Severus Snape, I'm a teacher at a school called Hogwarts," He left off the 'school of Witchcraft and Wizardry' not knowing if he knew anything about magic. He continued. "I'm here to take you away from your Aunt and Uncle, you are no longer safe here." He paused to see if Harry was still with him and to see if what he had just said had any impact on him, but the boy just looked lost, maybe he was trying to think? He couldn't tell, he just decided to keep going. "Can you tell me where it hurts?" and for the first time Harry talked, though it was more of a hoarse whisper.  
  
"Everywhere." Tears began spilling down his face.  
  
Snape felt despair for the boy sitting in front of him.  
  
"Is it okay if I pick you up?" Snape knew there was no way he could levitate the boy from where he was as there was not enough room, plus he might alarm the boy in doing so. After he saw the boy slowly nod his head, he placed his wand on the mattress, where it could still give off light, and he brought his arms forward, towards the boy to pick him up, Harry flinched, as if Snape was about to hit him and Snape quickly pulled his arms away.  
  
He needed Harry to know that he could trust him. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." Again Harry nodded, and again, Snape brought his arms forward, but more slowly this time and Harry didn't flinch. But when Snape picked Harry up, he seemed to be in a lot of pain, his breathing become more un-even. Snape quickly put him back down, and took out his wand, he muttered a few words, so Harry could barely hear them, and again picked Harry up, but this time, Harry wasn't in as much pain, he just felt numb.  
  
Snape brought him closer, and leaned the boy against his chest, one arm supporting him, and Snape's other arm was leaning back over to pick up his wand. Once he had it he left, and headed towards the door. He felt his shoulder getting wet as Harry cried, but he didn't mind.  
  
He felt Harry go into the creak of his neck as they walked out onto the street.  
  
Once reaching the alleyway Snape apparated to Hogsmeade. From there he made his way to Hogwarts as fast as he could without waking up the boy that now lay sleeping in his arms. Feeling amazed at just how light he was.  
  
************************************************************  
  
He rushed into the hospital wing, and was glad to find that Madam Pomfrey was yet to leave as he could still see her bags on the floor near the door. He urgently called her name, and she was rushing towards him within moments. But as soon as she saw Harry she was so shocked that she had to grab hold of a nearby bed to stop from falling, but after a few seconds of shock, she went into full nurse mode. Ordering that he put Harry onto a bed while she grabbed some things she needed.  
  
Snape carefully put him down onto a bed and watched him sleeping. But when Madam Pomfrey came back he was quickly shooed away. He waited at the end of the bed as she began examining him. After taking off Harry's shirt she gasped, there were bruises and scratches covering it. Even Snape covered his mouth in shock. The boys ribs could be easily seen indicating that he was barely feed, but when he thought to the other boy, Potter's cousin, he was extremely big, indicating that he ate way to much. Snape couldn't just keep looking at the boys beaten body, so he left, heading towards Dumbledore's office, leaving Madam Pomfrey to her work.  
  
*****************************************************  
  
When he arrived at the Gargoyle, he said the password, and quickly entered, but when he arrived, he found that Dumbledore was no where to be seen, and then he remembered a meeting that Dumbledore had mentioned having, but looking back at the conversation Dumbledore and he had had, it sounded like Dumbledore had known what had happened to Harry, yet he still went to that meeting. It should have been Dumbledore that had gone to get Potter tonight, not him.  
  
But seeing as there was no reason to think that he would be back anytime soon, Snape headed back towards the Hospital Wing to see how Potter was going.  
  
By the time he got back down there, Madam Pomfrey had finished checking on Harry, as he was dressed in pyjamas, sleeping peacefully in bed, having more colour in his face. He sat by Harry's bed, feeling completely exhausted, and hoping Dumbledore would get here soon so he could talk to him, and ask him those questions that he had had before.  
  
But a few minutes later Snape too found himself falling asleep, and was soon fast asleep in the chair besides Harry's bed.  
  
*******************************************************  
  
Dumbledore entered his office very early that morning, he hadn't realised that the meeting he had would go for so long, and he couldn't believe how stubborn Cornelius Fudge could be, even if he was new at being Minister of Magic that was no excuse at being so blind.  
  
He had really hoped to come back with adoption papers for Harry Potter, but instead he had gotten temporary hold of him, no matter how hard he tried to convince the board that Harry was not indeed safe with his relatives, the main reason they disagreed was that protection could be offered for him at the Dursleys, as they were blood relatives, but he knew that they may give him protection from the outside world, they didn't from his family.  
  
He really had wanted to get Harry out himself, but he knew that the meeting could not be put off, and either could getting Harry out of that house. He knew that if he was to have any chance of getting what he wanted Severus to do, then Severus had to be the one to get him out of that house, he had to see what it was like for Harry.  
  
He really had hoped that Sybill's prediction had been wrong, like every other one she had made, but he knew that it wasn't, he knew in his heart, she had never acted like she had when she was making this prediction, she couldn't even remember what she had said after.  
  
Dumbledore sighed, he decided to go down to the Hospital Wing and see how Harry was doing, and then head down to the dungeons to check on Severus.  
  
When he saw both Harry and Severus he couldn't help but smile, he had imagined that Severus wouldn't want to be anywhere near Harry, but there he was, asleep by his bed, as if he were a worried parent.  
  
But then looking at Harry, worry came over him again. It must have been bad if Severus actually stayed with him. He closed the door to the room and walked over to Madam Pomfrey's office to see how Harry was really doing.  
  
**********************************************************  
  
Harry woke up to the sound of a door closing. He looked around and realised that he was not in his room anymore. Where was he? He slowly looked around, getting scared all the while, he didn't recognise anything.  
  
He saw a man sleeping in a chair next to his bed. He couldn't see the man's face, but he did seem familiar. He got out of his bed and faced the man, so only the bed was between them. His could barely just see over the bed.  
  
Suddenly the man moved and caused Harry to jump in surprise and quickly move away from him. The man's eyes slowly opened and he turned his head so he was facing Harry. Why did this man seem familiar? And where was he? Looking cautiously at the man he slowly backed up until he was against the wall.  
  
The man slowly opened his mouth as if he was about to say something when the door opened and a old man with a long white beard and a woman walked through the door, they were talking between themselves, and didn't seem to notice that Harry was out of bed, or that he was looking very scared. Harry immediately began sliding against the wall until the reached the corner of the room.  
  
Who were these people? What did they want with him? The old man and woman suddenly stopped talking, after seeing the bed empty and after looking at the man that seemed familiar, they followed his gaze to land on Harry. They both took a step forward and they held their hand out trying to catch Harry's hand to bring him back to bed as he could easily catch a cold being bare-footed on the cold stone floor.  
  
They said his name soothingly but he didn't trust them, he didn't know them, what if they were trying to harm him? He quietly whispered "Please Don't" and he slid down the wall, bringing his legs to his chest, which made them take their hands back immediately. They took a step back so they had a good distance away from Harry, trying to make him feel more comfortable. The old man looked as though he was about to say something when the other man got up.  
  
Where did he know him from? How did he get here? The man walked around the bed and stopped directly in front of Harry, he then knelt down so he wasn't so tall, he looked Harry directly in the eye, then spoke.  
  
"Po- Harry, do you remember me? My name is Severus Snape. I met you last night. You are at Hogwarts, the school I told you about."  
  
Harry looked at the man, trying to remember what he had said had happened. Last night.Then he remembered. He smiled slightly at the man, he remembered what had happened!  
  
"You had the stick, with the light!" Harry said, remembering the stick that had lit up when the man, Severus had said something, he couldn't remember what.  
  
Severus nodded. "Yeah, that's right," Harry smiled weakly, he had got it right.  
  
Then Severus spoke. "Harry, why don't you come back up to bed, you look awfully tired, and you need some sleep, please." Harry thought for a second, he was tired, but he didn't feel comfortable sleeping with those other people watching him.  
  
Severus looked strained at saying those words, actually being polite and civil to James' Potters son.  
  
Harry looked past Severus' head and over at the two people standing behind him and saw that they were watching carefully. The old man with the long white beard was smiling and his eyes seemed to twinkle.  
  
Severus looked at what he was looking at, and rolled his eyes at the old man who looked as though Christmas had come early, he scowled at him and then looked back to Harry.  
  
"Harry, this is Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts." he said indicating to the old man with the long beard. ".and this is Madam Pomfrey, she is a nurse here, she helped to heal you." He indicated to the woman when he mentioned her name, and then pointed to Harry's ankle when he mentioned how she had healed him, and it was true, he had walked on it fine, and it wasn't hurting now. "You can trust them, they won't hurt you"  
  
Harry just nodded, he really was feeling tired. He yawned. He could feel his eyes starting to droop. He managed to get one more word out before drifting into the world of dreams.  
  
**************************************************************  
  
Severus couldn't help it, as much as he tried to hide it as soon as it happened, he tried to place the mask that he normally had over his face back on, and for a moment he thought that it had worked, no one had seen it, but one look at Albus told me other wise, he had seen it.  
  
As Harry said that one word, the unthinkable happened, I smiled. And it wasn't a fake smile but it was a true smile, one that reached my eyes. Harry had said something that I hadn't heard in a long time, and it was something I needed to hear.  
  
He had said "Thankyou" And as Harry fell asleep, I surprised myself by picking him up and putting him back gently to bed. 


	2. The Special Place

A Different Life  
  
Chapter 2 - The special place  
  
Harry wasn't sure how long he was asleep for, but the next time he opened his eyes, he knew it was night-time, as he could see the moon from outside his window, which was just beside his bed. It was strange, all he had been doing was sleeping, and yet he was still tired.  
  
He looked around the room to see if that man was still there, Severus. But he wasn't. The room was completely empty. The door was closed but he could hear voices floating through the room. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he knew one of the voices did not sound happy, he decided to go have a look and see if one of them was Severus.  
  
He quietly got out of bed, and walked up to the door, he silently opened it and stuck his head out the door, and saw that the voices were coming from another room, down the other end. Through the open door way he could see Severus and he did not look very happy at what had been said, he couldn't see the other person. It was quiet at the moment, he was about to go over there when he heard his name being said, he decided to stay where he was and listen.  
  
"...Harry needs someone to take care of him, and at the moment you-"  
  
Was Severus going to take care of him? Harry smiled.  
  
"Albus, you CANT be serious!" Severus yelled.  
  
Albus? Who was that, and then he remembered that the man last night who had the long white beard was called something like that, maybe it was him?  
  
"Yes, I'm afraid I am quiet serious Severus, it won't be that bad, Harry is a good boy, and he seems to have taken a liking to you." Albus said.  
  
"But I don't want to take care of him, what happens when I have classes to teach? I need time to prepare for them, I do not have time for a 5-year-old kid, and a dungeon is nowhere where a child should be. Can't you get someone else to take him? Lupin, what about him, I'm sure he'll be more then happy to take him!" Severus voice sounded desperate.  
  
Harry felt a tear roll down his check. Severus didn't want him, he was just causing problems, he should have stayed with the Dursleys. Harry suddenly felt very cold and lonely, he just wanted to get out of this place, and maybe he could still get back to his house, it couldn't be to far right?  
  
Making sure Severus wasn't looking anywhere in his direction, he ran to the door leading out to the hall. He quietly snuck out and began to run.  
  
He didn't realise how big this place was, he swore that he saw some paintings move, but he didn't dwell on it, he had to get out of here, which was proving to be a harder task then he expected, he kept going down stairs, and around corners, but no matter where he went, he still seemed to be high up, and nowhere near the bottom floor, he was starting to get tired, his legs felt like they were going to drop off, he needed a break. He leaned against the wall, and slowly slid down it, he just felt like sleeping, tears were still falling down his face. He felt cold, he didn't have anything on his feet and the ground was freezing.  
  
He started to hear noises from the stairs near him, he didn't think he had gone up there yet, as the noises continued, Harry's curiosity got bigger and bigger.  
  
He got up and slowly made his way up the stairs, with each step, the noise got louder and louder. Once at the top, he poked his head around the corner, and what he saw was enough to lighten his mood, he felt a big smile making its way up his face through his tears. He quickly decided that he liked this place very much.  
  
*************************************************  
  
"Even if it was possible for Remus to adopt Harry, which it's not as you might remember when he was turned down when James' and Lily died because of him being a werewolf, you know very well why he wouldn't be able to take care of Harry, even though his werewolf transformations may only come once a month, it takes him a week to fully recover from it. He wouldn't get a break if he had to look after Harry between that time, plus he also has teaching commitments as DADA teacher this year, as Professor Quirrell has gone away, and wont be back for quite a while, and besides, Remus has said that he would like to spend time with Harry, so he would not be with you all the time, you would have time to yourself, plus I'm sure the staff would love to help out.  
  
We both know that you are just scared of having responsibility for someone so young, and don't tell me about him being James' son. I do not want to hear anything on that matter." Dumbledore quickly said, seeing Severus open his mouth.  
  
"Now I understand that you do not want to do this, and if you can give me one good reason, I will find someone else, keeping in mind that for the moment this is just temporarily." Albus finished, looking quite flush at saying so much at once.  
  
Severus thought long and hard for a good reason that the headmaster wouldn't be able to shoot down, but was unable to find one, beside, he didn't think Albus would take to kindly on him if he just said he didn't want to, so he gave in, as he did every time.  
  
"James would turn in his grave knowing that I was going to look after his son! Besides, if the board don't want a werewolf looking after Potter, why would they allow a death eater to?" Severus answered back.  
  
"James would be happy to know that someone was going to be looking after his son that would be treating him the right way and you were not a death eater, you were a spy. The ministry knows that and they will be forever in your det for the help you provided in bringing Voldemort down."  
  
Severus just shook his head, looking down at the ground.  
  
"Severus, please... for me!" Albus pleaded.  
  
Damn! I hate when he does that. "Well as long as he doesn't give me any, and I mean ANY trouble, and the rest of the staff do their share, then I guess its okay..." Severus said, but again hating himself for being so weak when it came to Albus.  
  
Albus smiled, happy with himself for being able to convince Severus to take Harry in, at least for a while.  
  
"Now let's hope they give us his adoption papers instead of temporary ones."  
  
Albus clasped his hands together and began to talk again. "Well, should we go see if he is awake yet?"  
  
Severus only nodded.  
  
As they walked towards Harry's room, they noticed that the door was open, wondering why that was; Severus and Albus entered the room, only to find it empty.  
  
They both had two words go through there minds. 'Oh no!'  
  
Severus, Dumbledore, Filch and Madam Pomfrey were all searching the castle, looking for Harry, as they were the only people left there, but it wouldn't be for a few hours that Severus would stumble across him.  
  
***********************************************************  
  
Harry had never seen so many owls before, actually he wasn't even sure if he had even seen one before, not in the flesh anyway, he remembered seeing a picture in one of Dudley's storybooks.  
  
They looked beautiful. There were so many of them, some were sleeping, some were just flying around, and some were eating and drinking. He felt peaceful just watching them.  
  
He went up to one and it hooted at him. He smiled at it and started to pat it. It cooed him as he did.  
  
After a while he started to feel tired again, and as if the owl could sense it, it nipped his finger and flew off. Harry smiled seeing it fly away. He wished he could fly. He went over to the wall on the opposite corner and lay down next to it.  
  
He fell asleep with a smile on his face, imaging himself being able to fly.  
  
*************************************************************  
  
It was getting late and Severus was really begin to worry, this was why he hadn't wanted to look after Harry, at this rate he would be having a heart attack before the end of this year. He couldn't be a father figure to this boy, what was Albus thinking. He started heading up the stairs of the Owlery.  
  
When Severus entered the Owlery, he didn't see anyone. Only owls. He sighed, and turned around about to go back down the stairs when he heard something from the other end of the Owlery, it sounded like a voice. Narrowing his eyes at where he had heard the voice, he started to head over there.  
  
"Potter?" he didn't hear a response,  
  
"Potter is that you?" still nothing.  
  
But once he was over there, he could see in the shadows, a little boy lay on the hard cold stone floor, facing away from him, and towards the wall.  
  
"Harry..." this time it was said with relief. He turned the sleeping boy over to him and could see dried tears all over his face. He lightly touched his check and it felt immensely cold.  
  
He took out his wand and conjured a warm blanket up, wrapping it tightly around Harry. He picked him up and headed towards the hospital wing. Knowing Harry was now safe, he slowly felt his heart rate slowing back down to normal.  
  
****************************************************  
  
"I think it would be best for now if you took Harry back to your house, we could put some protections on it, plus the ones that you already had from when you were a spy, he should be safe there. I just don't want a repeat of tonight to happen again. This castle to too big for a 5-year-old to be wondering around alone, it might be alright when it is full of students as he is bound to be able to find someone if he is lost, but when there are only a handful of people, it is not very safe.  
  
But perhaps it would be best if you tell Harry what he is. Just the basics, we will start off slow." Albus said while talking to Severus, as Harry was sleeping in the other room, Poppy attending to him.  
  
"I don't know Albus; I haven't been in that house for what? 3 years. I'm not even sure what condition it is in." Severus said, looking at the door, which lead to where Harry currently was.  
  
"It will be fine, you can fix it up when you and Harry get there, I'm sure Harry could stay in one of your many guest rooms. I suggest you leave soon, we can't have Harry getting attached to much this place, and we can not keep moving him around." Albus said, while carefully looking at the man in front of him.  
  
Severus just nodded, and then left to go check on Harry and make sure he was okay.  
  
He walked in and saw that Harry was awake.  
  
Harry looked up at Severus when he entered, but quickly looked away.  
  
Severus was a bit surprised by this, but his mask was firmly in place, covering any expression from coming out. He also looked away and walked over to Madam Pomfrey.  
  
"Is he ok?" Severus asked, a tiny bit of worry seeping through his voice.  
  
Poppy looked up and smiled a bit at him.  
  
She nodded and said, "Just a small cold, nothing one of your potions can't fix. But he does seem to be a bit upset about something, but he wont tell me, are you sure he just went wondering around?"  
  
"That is the only answer that we can come up with; why else would he have left? Maybe he saw something around the castle that upset him? I'll talk to him." Severus said looking again, over at Harry, who still wasn't looking at him.  
  
Madam Pomfrey nodded and then left the room, leaving Severus and Harry alone. Severus walked over to Harry and sat in the chair by his bed.  
  
"Are you okay Harry?" not receiving a response, or even getting him to turn his head to face him, Severus continued, trying a different approach.  
  
"Why did you leave your room?" still nothing. Sighing, getting a bit frustrated. "Potter, what is wrong with you? Answer my questions!" Severus nearly shouted, but immediately regretted it. Harry, for the first time since Severus started talking, looked at him, with fear in his eyes. Severus visibly flinched. He shouldn't have said that. He quickly tried to apologise. "Harry, I'm-" but Harry interrupted.  
  
"You hate me. I 'm just an inconvenience. I'm really sorry I've caused so much trouble. I can go back to my aunt and uncles, I don't mind." Harry said in a small voice, a tear falling down his check as he spoke.  
  
Severus was shocked, is this really what he thought.  
  
"Of course I don't hate you, whatever gave you that idea." He decided to start of with that, leaving the other parts Harry had said for later questioning.  
  
"I heard you and that man talking before, I heard what you said." Harry looked down at the bed sheets.  
  
Severus closed his eyes, and a few colourful words went through his mind. Harry had only obviously heard some of the conversation because otherwise, he would have known that he did not hate him, but was just not ready for the responsibility. That and the fact that Harry was James' son.  
  
"Well, I don't know how much you heard, but obviously not the whole conversation, am I correct?"  
  
Harry nodded.  
  
"Harry, the reason I didn't want to be the one to look after you, was not because I hated you or anything like that. I just didn't want the one responsible for the-boy-who-lived."  
  
Harry looked up, not understanding what he meant by what he had called him.  
  
"I'll tell you about that another time, for now, just know that I am going to look after you, you will be staying at my house if that is alright with you, and I promise you that you will never go back to your Aunt and Uncle ever again."  
  
Harry smiled.  
  
"When are we going to leave? I'm not sure I like this room, it's too white." Harry said as he looked around at the walls.  
  
"Tomorrow after we both get some well needed rest. But first I have to tell you something important. Now I will need you to listen carefully."  
  
Harry nodded, now looking at Severus.  
  
"Harry, you are not just a normal boy, you're a wizard..."  
  
****************************************************  
  
All Harry could think was 'wow'. He was a wizard, boring little Harry Potter, a wizard. He wondered why he couldn't do magic, but then he remembered Severus saying he had to be older. But Harry wanted to see some with his own eyes.  
  
"Show me some." Harry asked eagerly.  
  
"Show you some what? Magic? Severus said, looking confused.  
  
Harry nodded again.  
  
"Okay..." Severus thought for a moment. He took out his wand and pointed it at the dresser beside Harry's bed.  
  
"Accio book" he said while pointing his wand at a book, which was on top of the dresser.  
  
The book went flying over towards him and he easily caught it.  
  
Harry smiled. So it was true.  
  
**********************************************************  
  
The next morning Severus went into the hospital wing to get Harry. When he entered Harry was wide awake, already dressed and just sitting in a chair waiting.  
  
"Ready?" he asked, already knowing the answer.  
  
Harry smiled, only just noticing that Severus had entered, and replied with a quick "yes"  
  
"Well come along then." And without looking back, Severus left the room. 


	3. A Night Visit

A Different Life  
  
Chapter 3 - A night visit  
  
They were going to travel by floo Powder, but Severus thought that might be a little too scary for Harry. So they went on there way to Hogsmeade. This time Harry was able to have a good look around the castle as they were heading outside.  
  
Harry didn't think he had ever smiled so much in his life before. Everything was amazing, he couldn't wait to comeback here.  
  
They made there way into Hogsmeade, which was basically empty. Severus grabbed Harry's hand and right before their eyes, Hogsmeade disappeared.  
  
They appeared in a dusty old looking house. Harry heard Severus mutter something like "home sweet home" though he didn't sound very happy. Severus still had Harry's hand, but neither seemed to notice it, they were both looking around, Severus was taking in old surroundings, and Harry was taking in new surroundings.  
  
"Sorry Harry, I haven't had time to get this place ready" Severus said, finally letting go of Harry's hand to get his wand out. He muttered another spell and all the dust disappeared. "That's a bit better." He continued muttering to himself, as he walked around, making a mental list of things to do. Finally he seemed to stop, and looked over to Harry.  
  
"Come on, I'll show you to your room." Severus said as he began to walk up the stairs on the other side of the house, Harry following close behind.  
  
Severus stopped outside a door about halfway down the hallway. He opened it to reveal a completely empty room. It had one window, and another door, which was a closet. He led Harry in the room, and told him he would be back in a couple of minutes. He wanted to check on his room, and he knew Harry should get used to his room, let him have a look around. Not that there was much to look at.  
  
He left, leaving the door ajar.  
  
He then went over to the other side of the hall, opposite to Harry's door, and opened the door that lay there. Opening it, he found everything the way he had left it, nothing had changed.  
  
His old room.  
  
*********************************************************  
  
Harry liked his new room, even though it was reasonably bare at the moment, it was big, and with four years of being cramped in a small cupboard, this was heaven. He walked over to the window but it was too high up for him to see out of, he looked around for something to stand on, but the room was bare. He went over to the closet, to see if it had anything in it. He opened it, but it was too dark to see. He was about to step in closer, when he heard a noise. He immediately stepped back. Suddenly his uncle stepped out, looking as furious as ever.  
  
Harry felt all colour slip away from his face. He backed away into the corner of the room, shaking with fear. All the while, his uncle stepped closer and closer. He too was shaking, not with fear, but with anger. His Uncle's fists were clenched at his sides, the way they always were before he was about to attack. He saw his Uncle's hand move backwards, getting ready to strike.  
  
"No! Please don't." Harry started to feel tears falling down his face. He was now crouched down on the floor, trying to get as far away from his Uncle as he could.  
  
*****************************************************  
  
Severus was still looking around his room when he heard Harry's panicked voice. He quickly left his room and went back into Harry's room. What he saw was enough to make him stop dead in his tracks right by the door.  
  
Harry was crouching on the floor, crying while his uncle was standing over him, looking angry as hell. He could tell that the man was about to hit Harry, so without even thinking, he took out his wand in record speed, and yelled "Stupefy!"  
  
Harry's uncle stumbled backwards, but it didn't have the full affect of what should have happened. Severus was confused at this, but then he noticed that the closet was open, quickly piecing two and two together, and thinking that if he was wrong, no harm would be done, he pointed his wand at Harry's uncle and shouted "Riddikulus". And with a crack the boggart was gone.  
  
Severus quickly walked over to Harry. The boy was still shaking, looking where his uncle had once been. He bent down so he was almost the same size as Harry was normally standing up.  
  
"Harry" not getting a response he continued. "Harry, look at me." Severus held Harry's jaw and made him look at him. Tears were still falling down the boys face.  
  
"It's okay, he's gone now." Severus said soothingly.  
  
Harry looked back to where his uncle had once been, and then back to Severus. Still shaking, he jumped up onto his feet, and put his arms around Severus' neck, and hugged Severus tight. Severus put his arms around Harry and at the same time, picked him up. Harry's head buried into his shoulder.  
  
Knowing he should check the rest of the house for anything like that, he took Harry and himself to the fireplace. Using his wand with his free hand, he lit a fire with it, then putting it back into his pocket, he threw some floo powder into the fire place that was in front of him. Once the flames were green, he stepped into it, and yelled "Lupin manor" and both Severus and Harry disappeared into the fire.  
  
********************************************************  
  
When they reached Lupin's house, they were lucky to find that he was there alone, sitting on his couch in front of the fireplace reading the Daily Prophet in his living room. He immediately stood up at the sight of Severus entering his house with a boy in his arms.  
  
"Severus? What are you doing here? And who is th- is that Harry?" Lupin said all at once.  
  
"Yes, this is Harry, and he just had a bit of a scare, involving a boggart. I thought it would be best if I brought him here." Severus said calmly.  
  
Lupin nodded, understanding. "Yes of course, you can both stay here as long as you need to."  
  
"Well actually, I was hoping you could look after Harry, while I go back to my house to check and make sure there are no more surprises around there." Severus said, looking down at the boy who hadn't moved an inch, his face still hidden in Severus' now wet shirt.  
  
Lupin nodded, and motioned for Severus to put him on the couch.  
  
Severus made his way over there. He carefully sat Harry on the couch, which he took up barely any room on. The boy was still wide-awake. Severus knelled down so he was in front of him.  
  
"Harry, I'm going to go in a minute, but I'll be back as soon as I can, in the meantime, Remus is going to look after you, you can trust him." Severus said looking deep into boys beautiful emerald eyes.  
  
Harry just nodded  
  
"It's probably a good idea for you to get some sleep, okay Harry."  
  
Harry shook his head, saying no, a panicked look coming over him.  
  
"Harry, what's wrong?" Severus asked, concern shown on his face.  
  
"I can't sleep, I can't..." Harry said, looking towards the ground.  
  
"Why not Harry?" Severus asked  
  
"He'll be there" Harry whispered.  
  
"Who?" Severus asked, fearing that he already knew the answer.  
  
Harry didn't answer, but a few tears escaped his eyes, rolling down his check.  
  
"Who Harry?" Severus asked, this time taking Harry's chin in his hands, and making him look in his eyes.  
  
"M-my Uncle" Harry whispered, pulling his chin from Severus' grasp, and again looking at the ground.  
  
Severus stood up, and faced Remus, who had his mouth cupped in his hand. Severus wasn't sure if he was shocked at what Harry had just said, or by the way Severus was treating Harry, James' son.  
  
"Do you have any Dreamless-sleep potion?" Severus asked, choosing to ignore the shock on his face.  
  
Remus nodded, and then left to get some. He quickly returned, handing the potion to Severus.  
  
Severus bent back down so he was again, eye level with Harry.  
  
"Harry, I want you to drink this, it will make you feel better." Severus said holding the bottle out to Harry.  
  
Harry nodded.  
  
And with the help of Severus, Harry drank the entire potion.  
  
Once Severus was sure Harry had gone to sleep, he got up and again, faced Remus.  
  
"Thankyou once again, I'll be back as soon as I can." Severus turned towards the fireplace when he heard Remus talk to him. He stopped but didn't turn around.  
  
"You are really good for him Severus, I'm sure James and Lily appreciate everything you are doing for Harry." Remus said, with a lot of emotion in his voice, just from talking about his friends.  
  
Severus just continued walking until he reached the fireplace, he chucked some floo powder in there and stepped into it, he turned around so he was facing Remus' living room, and shouted "Snape Manor" and just before he was whisked away, he saw Remus by Harry's side, pulling some hair away from his face.  
  
********************************************************  
  
Remus watched as Harry slept, he looked so much like James. He placed a blanket on the boy, and a pillow under his head. He wished that he had been able to take care of Harry when James' and Lily had died, he had defiantly tried. Damn Ministry. Did they really think that he would have put Harry at risk when he turned into a werewolf! He would have took Harry somewhere else for that night, even Dumbledore had volunteered, but they wouldn't listen, all they knew was that Remus was a werewolf, and that was all they wanted to know, they had already made their decision as soon as they all knew.  
  
Once it was starting to get into early morning, Remus wondered where Severus was, it had been quite a while, what was he doing? But he was beginning to fall asleep, and wasn't awake enough to ponder those questions. So he took his wand and waved it, producing a warm blanket, and a pillow. He placed it besides Harry, and then after making sure the fire was still going in the fireplace, left to go to his room.  
  
********************************************  
  
3 hours later  
  
Severus got back to Remus' house very early morning. He hadn't realised it would take so long to check his house and to fix it up. It was now a creature free house, and a furnished one. But now he was exhausted. All he wanted to do was sleep, he almost did on the way to Remus' house, and even the bumpy ride there didn't help to keep him awake. But the fact that he kept getting burnt by fire did help to keep him awake.  
  
He walked over to Harry and saw that he was still sleeping. He looked like he was in the same position as when he had left him, except now there was a blanket covering him and pillow under his head. Severus sat down next to Harry, not realising there was something there until he had already flattened it, but luckily it was nothing breakable. He pulled the items out and saw that they were a pillow and a big warm blanket, they were obviously for him, but he just wanted to go back home. But his eyes prevented that, by the fact that they refused to open. He finally gave in, falling asleep, next to him, lay Harry, peacefully sleeping.  
  
**********************************************************  
  
At around 9am, Remus woke up, he never could sleep in. He walked out, completely forgetting that Harry was still there. He got up and stretched, he went out to go put some coffee on when he saw something that made him smile. Severus lay sleeping with Harry asleep on his lap. They both look so peaceful. He couldn't help but think that that was meant to be Harry and James. Not Harry and Severus. The smile turned into a sad smile. He was still glad that Harry had someone.  
  
He left and went into the kitchen, to get breakfast ready. 


	4. Red

Disclaimer: Sorry! I totally forgot to put this at the start, I will when I have finished the fic go back and change that! But 4 now I'll leave it here. Okay even though I'm sure you already would know this, I'm gonna say it anyway. I own NOTHING here, J. K. Rowling owns it all. I do not get anything out of this story except the joy of writing and being able to express myself. Thankyou...  
  
Also thankyou to Sinner's Angel, Anonymous and Iniysa for reviewing! I appreciate it!   
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 4 - Red  
  
20 minutes later  
  
Harry woke to the sound of a shuffling from the next room. He sat up and noticed Severus fast asleep next to him. He smiled slightly and then remembered where he was. He got up and walked into the next room, where he had heard the noise. He stood at the doorway and saw the same man as he had seen yesterday, Remus making breakfast.  
  
The man turned around and saw Harry standing by the doorway. His whole face lit up. He smiled down at Harry. Harry liked this man, he seemed nice.  
  
"Good morning Harry, I trust that you slept well?" Remus asked kindly.  
  
Harry nodded "Yes thankyou."  
  
"Would you like something to eat, you look as skinny as a stick." Remus said, looking Harry up and down.  
  
Harry too looked down at himself, "A stick?" he wasn't that skinny was he?  
  
Remus smiled at his confusion. "Just a saying Harry, just a saying."  
  
"Oh, umm well I am hungry." Harry said, politely.  
  
"Here" Remus went over and picked Harry up and placed him on top of the kitchen bench. "Now would you like some toast?" he said picking some bread up "or some cereal" he said picking up a box of fruit loops "or-"  
  
Harry cut him off "Toast would be great thanks"  
  
Remus smiled "Toast it is" he took out his wand and pointed it at the bread, in a few seconds the bread was nicely toasted.  
  
"Wow" was all Harry said as he saw the bread transform into toast.  
  
"What you like on it?" Remus asked  
  
"Nothing thankyou, I prefer it plain." Harry said, he never was allowed anything on his toast at the Dursleys and he had grown to quite like it.  
  
Remus was looking at Harry as if he were crazy "Nothing, not anything? Not even butter?"  
  
"Nope" Harry smiled.  
  
"Alright, but if you change your mind, don't hesitate to ask me for something, anything"  
  
"Alright" Harry said, knowing fully well that he wouldn't.  
  
Remus picked him back up from the bench and placed him in a chair, in front of the kitchen table, he placed 5 pieces of perfectly done plain toast and a glass of milk.  
  
"Don't worry about them going cold, they will continually stay warm until eaten." Remus said, while sitting next to him, some eggs in front of him.  
  
Harry smiled and then dug in. He didn't realise he was so hungry.  
  
After Harry had finished two pieces of toast Severus walked in, he looked very tired. He had dark shadows under his eyes and his hair was everywhere. He looked over to Harry and then Remus, and then collapsed into a chair near them.  
  
Remus smiled. "Have a nice sleep Severus? You looked mighty comfortable when you I saw you with Harry." Remus smiled even bigger when remembering them.  
  
Severus just scowled at him and then turned his attention to Harry, who was on his third piece of plain toast.  
  
"Why is there nothing on your toast?" Severus asked while rubbing his eyes.  
  
"I like it on its own, I always have had it on its own, and I guess I'll always have it on its own. " Harry answered, shrugging, and taking another bite out of it.  
  
Severus face showed distaste, but he didn't say anything. He just put his elbows on the table and placed his face in his hands, closing his eyes.  
  
"Here" Remus said, placing a mug in front of him.  
  
Severus opened his eyes and saw black tea in it. He smiled his thanks and took a big gulp out of it, almost waking him up instantly.  
  
Harry finished his third piece of toast and was feeling very full, but he was also very thirsty. He took his milk and finished it in two gulps.  
  
Remus and Severus just watched him, wondering if he had ever drunk anything with the way he was going, he was likely to drown.  
  
When Harry was finished, he placed the cup back down on the table, and smiled at both Severus and Remus.  
  
"Well, isn't that just the cutest thing ever" Remus said, as Harry smiled with a milk moustache.  
  
Severus just rolled his eyes at Remus.  
  
Harry wiped his mouth.  
  
Severus noticed that Harry was in a considerably better mood now then what he was when they first got to Remus'. Looks like that sleep did him some good.  
  
Severus grabbed a piece of toast off the uneaten pile, and muttered a spell, butter and jam appeared on it. He quickly finished it.  
  
"Well Remus, thankyou for taking care of Harry yesterday and letting us both stay the night, but we really must be off now." Severus said, while getting up at the same time.  
  
"Of course, it was a pleasure, drop by anytime, don't hesitate." Remus said, also getting up.  
  
Harry got up too, feeling very small compared to both Remus and Severus. He walked over to Severus who then led him to the living room where the fireplace was.  
  
"Bye Remus" Harry said while waving.  
  
Remus smiled "Bye Harry"  
  
Severus and Harry both stepped into the fireplace after putting floo powder in it and watching it turn green. Harry didn't remember much about the last time he was in it, and wondered what it was like. Severus grabbed his hand and shouted "Snape Manor" and they were off.  
  
Harry thought he was going to be sick, he was spinning and spinning, he made a bad decision of sticking his arm out, he was sure he got burnt. After what seemed like a lifetime, it ended. Luckily Severus had Harry's hand, otherwise Harry would have fallen flat on his face. His legs gave way and the only thing that was holding him up was his hand, which Severus had held. He helped Harry to get back on his feet and then let go.  
  
Harry brushed himself off as he saw soot all over his clothes. He looked around and it all looked different, it no longer looked empty and like no one had lived in it for years. It now looked homey, the walls looked freshly painted and everything looked as good as new.  
  
Harry smiled.  
  
Severus led him up the stairs and to him room again, standing outside, Harry felt a little uneasy about going in there.  
  
Severus was about to open the door when he stopped all of a sudden. He turned to Harry.  
  
"Harry, what is your favourite colour?" Severus asked, looking down at him.  
  
Harry scrunched up his face in concentration, thinking hard. "Umm...red" he said after a while.  
  
Severus smiled and pulled out his wand, he pointed it at the door and muttered something.  
  
Then he pulled the door open.  
  
He stood aside to let Harry go first.  
  
After a moment's hesitation, Harry stepped into the room.  
  
He smiled, what once was an old bare room, was now a bright, alive room. There was a big bed under his window, so he would have no trouble getting to it and looking out it, he had a desk, some draws, a nice colourful carpet, and his favourite of all, bright red walls. This was the best thing anyone had ever done for him. He vowed to do something for Severus in return.  
  
Still staring, he was startled when a voice sounded right next to his ear. He turned to see Severus knelling down right behind him.  
  
"Well, what do you think? Severus asked. A small smile forming as he saw the look of awe on the boys face.  
  
"Thankyou so much but I don't deserve this." Harry said, looking over his shoulder at the room again.  
  
"Harry" making sure he had Harry's attention again, he said "Of course you deserve this! Don't be silly."  
  
Harry smiled and hugged Severus. He whispered "Thankyou"  
  
As they pulled away, Severus looked at Harry, he noticed the clothes he was wearing, he had been meaning to go out and get him some clothes, but needed Harry as he couldn't go by the clothes that he was wearing now because they were about 3 sizes to big.  
  
"How about tomorrow you and me go out and get you some new clothes, how does that sound?" Severus asked.  
  
Harry nodded, looking down at his clothes.  
  
"Now let me give you the tour of the house..." Severus said while heading out the room. Harry looked around his room once more before following him out and allowing Severus to tell him all the rooms he wasn't aloud to go in.  
  
*******************************************************  
  
That night Harry had no trouble sleeping in his new room, Severus had offered to give him the same potion he had given him last night, but Harry felt that he would be fine, so far he had been able to get to sleep okay. Anyway, the room he was in now looked completely different to the room that his uncle had come out of. 


	5. Not Again!

A Different Life  
  
Chapter 5 - Not Again!  
  
The next day Severus and Harry managed to finish buying some clothes in Diagon Alley for Harry to wear. Which Harry had learned that it was right in London. They had just finished lunch when someone unexpected bumped into them.  
  
"Ah, Severus, is that you? It's been a while has it not? And look, you have been promoted to babysitting!" a man with blonde hair said, a sneer planted on his face.  
  
Harry immediately didn't like this man. He looked...evil.  
  
"Why if it isn't Lucius Malfoy, still all in once piece I see." Severus said, a glare full of malice and hate directed straight at him, but Lucius didn't even flinch.  
  
Harry's attention was distracted by a familiar noise, a noise he had heard before. He turned in the direction it was coming from and started to head off in that direction. It wasn't long before he found the source of the noise. It was coming from Eeylops Owl Emporium - Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown and Snowy.  
  
He walked in and found so many owls. He didn't know where to look. He didn't even want to blink. He sat in front of one owl he especially liked, it looked like a baby. It was snowy white and looked beautiful. It was on a stand on the floor so he sat down cross-legged in front of it and just pattered it. He didn't even notice that he had left Severus behind talking to that man.  
  
*****************************************************  
  
He didn't know how long he was in there, but it had begun to get dark outside and still Harry seemed mesmerised by the owl. He didn't see any of the customers coming in or leaving. He just continued to pat and stare. Only when someone roughly grabbed his arm was he brought back to reality.  
  
"Oww" Harry cried, as he was brought to his feet un-willingly.  
  
"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN? I'VE BEEN LOOKING ALL OVER FOR YOU!." Severus shouted into his face.  
  
"I-I heard the owls and I wanted to see them so I...I-" Harry tried to find the right words but Severus cut him off.  
  
"SO YOU WALKED OFF BY YOURSELF WITHOUT ASKING ME, WITHOUT EVEN BLOODLY TELLING ME, AND FOR WHAT, SOME STUPID OWLS! Severus shouted, anger clearly shown in his voice.  
  
"I-I...I'm sorry-" Harry looked down at his feet, ashamed at what he had done, after all that Severus had done for him, he had repaid him by doing this.  
  
"Yeah, well sorry doesn't cut it this time." Severus said forcefully, again grabbing his arm painfully tight and dragging him out of the shop, and all the way into the Leaky Cauldron. Not listening to Harry's pleas of letting go of his arm. If anything he only tightened his grip. Not wanting to loose him again.  
  
Once they were back at Snape Manor Severus let go of Harry's arm, still looking angry. He looked like he was full ready to yell at him more, but instead just told him to go to his room. And Harry did just that, he ran as fast as his legs could take him, right up into his room and he quickly closed his door. He looked back down at his arm and could see some bruising appearing. He was being punished again, just like his uncle used to do, except it was not as bad as what his uncle would do... yet.  
  
Harry walked back over to the furthest corner of his room, and sat down, bringing his legs up to his chest, he slowly rocked backwards and forwards in the dark.  
  
*************************************************  
  
Severus had never been so scared in his life. He knew he wasn't ready for this. He couldn't take care of a little boy. He wasn't ready. He almost had a heart attack when he looked down to see Harry gone. He actually felt his heart stop. He couldn't breathe. He thought someone must have taken him. Then suddenly his heart went beating to what felt like a hundred miles an hour. He couldn't see Harry anywhere.  
  
For hours he looked. And the stupid thing was he had looked in that darn owl place. He just hadn't been looking hard enough to find him. He was after all sitting down on the floor, near the back of the shop. He looked in every shop Diagon Alley had, even Knockturn Alley, and was looking through them all again when he found Harry. He was so relieved he was okay. But like it had his whole life, anger took over him.  
  
He was angrier with himself for letting Harry just leave without him noticing then he was at Harry, and what made it even worse was Lucius had had been there, if Severus was going to have any chance of getting full custody of Harry, he couldn't be losing him in front of one of the board members, especially Lucius Malfoy. He would do anything to see Harry miserable. And sending Harry back to his aunt and uncle would make his day.  
  
But after expecting the worse for so long, he couldn't believe that Harry had just been there, looking completely innocent like he had not just walked off in a dangerous place by himself, where so many things could have happened to him, of course he didn't know that. He didn't know he was the- boy-who-lived. Looking back Severus felt bad about the way he acted.  
  
He decided to go check up on him, he was still going to have words with him, but maybe not as loud as what he was doing before. He had too keep reminding himself that this was only a five-year-old boy, who has been abused by his only living family.  
  
He walked upstairs and slowly opened the door to Harry's bedroom. Looking around he couldn't see him at first, it was very dark so he took out his wand and muttered a spell, the whole room lit up.  
  
He looked around again and saw Harry in the far corner of the room. He walked over to him and crouched down in front of him.  
  
"Harry, I'm sorry I yelled at you, I was just so worried about you, I thought something had happened. I'm really sorry. I didn't hurt you before did I?" Severus said, looking to see his arm but it was hidden between his legs and chest.  
  
Harry didn't say anything. He just kept looking at the ground.  
  
"Harry, I didn't hurt you did I?" Severus said, dread staring to fill him.  
  
Still no answer.  
  
Oh God "Show me your arm Harry"  
  
He watched as Harry slowly lifted his arm to reveal some nasty coloured bruising. Severus went as white as chalk, he had hurt Harry, HURT HIM!  
  
"I'm so sorry Harry. I didn't mean to, oh what have I done!" Severus said, leaning next to Harry on the wall. Closing his eyes, shaking his head, wondering how he could have done such a thing. After all that boy had been through, Severus went and hurt him. HURT HIM! This was why he shouldn't he aloud to look after Harry, it was only a matter of time before something happened. He had never had any younger brothers or sisters, he had never been around kids Harry's age. His thoughts were stopped by a small voice next to him.  
  
"It's okay, my uncle did a lot worse, I deserved what happened, I shouldn't have left without telling you, it was wrong, I'm sorry." Harry said, thinking about what his uncle would have done if that had happened. But he probably wouldn't have bothered to go looking for him.  
  
"Harry, I don't want you to ever think like that again, no one ever deserves that, no one... and especially not you. I promise you that I will never do anything like that again. I only hope you can forgive me for what I have done." Severus said, looking down at the small boy beside him, who was far mature beyond his years.  
  
Harry smiled slightly, and half nodded, half yawned.  
  
Severus had to admit it had been a long day.  
  
"Why don't you try and get some sleep. I'll give you a potion to help heal that, and make any pain go away. Okay?" Severus said, starting to get up.  
  
"Okay" Harry said, he to started to get up.  
  
Severus left to go to the dungeon he had in the basement of the house. He finally found the right potion and quickly made his way back upstairs, making a mental note to buy more potion ingredients since he didn't have time to get some today. He was surprised he had the potion he was looking for then.  
  
Once he reached Harry's room he saw the boy lay on his bed, fast asleep. Severus sighed, he placed the potion on the draw next to his bed. He went back out to get his clothes that he had brought for Harry, which were still by the fireplace, lying on the floor forgotten.  
  
He put all the clothes away in Harry's closet, but kept a pair of pyjamas with him.  
  
He walked back over to Harry and took off his shirt. Shaking his head at the array of bruises and scars that lay there. A constant reminder of what had been done to him. The bruises of course would heal, as would most of the scars. But some would still remain. Harry of course looked a lot worse when he had first come into the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey was able to heal all his broken bones, and his ankle, which was badly sprained and most of the cuts and bruises. But some still remained even now.  
  
Once Harry was fully changed, Severus placed him in his bed and under the warm covers.  
  
Just before he left, he silently whispered "Night Harry." And then he left his door slightly ajar and left the hall light on.  
  
He went into his room and after a lot of tossing and turning, finally fell asleep.  
  
********************************************************  
  
Harry woke up sometime early morning with an aching arm. He must have slept on it. He felt like it was pounding. He groaned and got out of bed. He stumbled over to his door, still sleepy, and walked over across the hall to the other door and with his uninjured arm, opened it. The room was dark.  
  
He walked over to the bed and climbed on it, there he saw Severus asleep on his stomach. He almost didn't want to wake him, but the pounding in his arm was almost too much to bear.  
  
He gently pushed Severus' arm, trying to wake him. After a while Severus finally stirred.  
  
His head shot up, his hair everywhere. He was looking around, his eyes only half opened to see what had woke him. His eyes finally landed on Harry.  
  
"What? Is everything okay?" Severus asked, waking up a bit more.  
  
"My arm really hurts" Harry said, lifting his arm to show Severus it. "I think I slept on it."  
  
Severus turned over and sat up and had a look at it, carefully placing the small arm into his hand. It was bruised is a hand type print.  
  
He squinted his eyes in thought, trying to remember where he put the potion from last night. Then he remembered putting it by his bed.  
  
"Come on" Severus said, pulling the covers away from him and getting out of bed. He stretched and walked over to Harry, picking him up, he saw Harry was still cradling his arm. He took Harry back to his room and took the potion from the bench and placed Harry in a sitting position on his bed. Once Harry was ready, he helped pour the potion down his throat.  
  
Once it was all gone, he helped him get back into bed.  
  
"Thanks" Harry said as he started to feel some of the pain fading away.  
  
Severus just shook his head as he tucked Harry in, still remembering how Harry had gotten hurt. Harry shouldn't be saying thanks.  
  
He watched until he fell asleep, and then headed back to his own room. 


	6. Magic

Thankyou again Sinner's Angel for reviewing and also Crabbe!  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 6 - Magic  
  
A few hours later Severus woke up, still feeling sleepy, but knowing he wasn't going to be able to get anymore sleep. He got up and changed into some clothes, and then proceeded down the stairs to start breakfast.  
  
Once everything was set, he headed back to get Harry, knowing he was going to have a talk to him about not wondering off. He walked up the stairs and pushed open the door. Harry was still asleep. Severus looked at the time on his watch and saw that it read 10:37am. He really should wake Harry up. He couldn't let him sleep the day away, but he couldn't find it in himself to wake him, he looked so much more peaceful while sleeping.  
  
So he walked back out, and decided to eat alone and then maybe make a potion. He hadn't done that for a while, well not since school ended, which was about a week and a half ago. Normally he would be into his third potion about now, which would be the hardest ones that he wouldn't normally get much practice in.  
  
After finishing breakfast he made his way downstairs to his dungeon that he had.  
  
Once in the dungeon he walked over to his storeroom to evaluate what ingredients would be needed for him to buy.  
  
Just as he was opening another door to another storage room he heard a yell that sounded like Harry's voice, completely forgetting about what he was doing, Severus ran upstairs to make sure Harry was okay. But what he saw made his eyes almost pop out in shock.  
  
*****************************************************  
  
10 minutes before  
  
Harry woke up feeling a lot more rested. His arm didn't hurt and it didn't nearly look as bad as it did the night before. Getting up he walked over to Severus' room to find it empty. Heading downstairs he clumsily ran down the stairs, tripping on one of the steps.  
  
As he was slipping he could feel himself falling, but it never happened, he didn't hit the ground, in fact, he seemed to have stopped moving altogether, but he wasn't touching anything either. What was going on? Harry looked over his side and what he saw made him yell. He was floating!  
  
He heard some running and just put his head right back so he was looking at an upside down Severus.  
  
"Help" Harry said, not knowing how to get down.  
  
*****************************************************  
  
Severus, after getting over his initial shock, ran over to Harry, being careful to take him, and lowering him to the ground. Harry was obviously in shock, his eyes were wide, and he didn't seem to be looking at anything, just staring. Severus bent down beside Harry and looked him in the eye.  
  
"Harry, what did you just do?" Severus asked, trying to get the boys attention.  
  
"I-I don't...I don't know..." Harry said, now looking into Severus' eyes.  
  
"Can you tell me what happened before you found yourself floating in mid air?" Severus asked, trying to understand what had just happened.  
  
"I was running down the stairs and I tripped. But then all of a sudden I...I was floating." Harry said, clearly confused at what had just happened.  
  
It was then that Severus understood what had happened. Harry had just showed his first signs of magic. He wasn't a squib, not that the thought had ever entered his mind.  
  
"I think what happened Harry, was that you have just shown your first signs of magic." Severus said, smiling at the look of wonderment that shown through Harry's face.  
  
"I-I did magic?" Harry said, the smile getting wider on his face by the second, clearly excited that he had done magic.  
  
"Yes, I believe you did. Now come on, you must be starving." Severus said, once again standing up, and leading Harry into the kitchen.  
  
***********************************************  
  
A few weeks later it was the night before Harry's birthday. Severus had no doubt that Harry would love his present, he was assured of that. He couldn't believe that he was actually excited for Harry. He never thought he could care about someone so much in such a short time, though around other people he tried his hardest to not seem like that was the truth. He was still hard on Harry, not letting him get away with much, but Harry didn't even seem to notice. He too was growing more and more used to Severus' moods, and didn't seem to take any of his glares or sneers too seriously. He had also come quite accustomed to his sarcasm. They seemed to have worked out a routine that seemed to fit quite well.  
  
Harry had also gotten used to being around other strangers, he still liked to be able to see Severus whenever he was with someone, but with the constant visits from Dumbledore and Remus, Harry had gotten used to them, and was able to be around them when Severus was out without feeling nervous.  
  
***************************************  
  
Severus was awakened by movement on his bed.  
  
He opened his eyes to see Harry jumping on the other end of his double bed. He looked to his other side to see his clock read 5:41am. It was way too early to get up. He groaned, looking back over to Harry who was still happily jumping up and down.  
  
"Harry" Severus said warningly. "Go back to sleep!" Rolling over onto his back he propped up onto his elbows.  
  
"Severus! You're awake!" Harry said who then stopped jumping and crawled over to where he was laying, sitting in front of him and crossing his legs.  
  
"Yes, well it's a bit hard to sleep when someone is constantly jumping on your bed!" Severus said, trying to sound angry, but was far too tired to put in the effort.  
  
Harry looked slightly guilty for a moment, but it was quickly replaced by excitement. "Guess what!" He said happily.  
  
"What?" Severus asked, sitting up more, trying to sound as though he was interested.  
  
"I'm 6 today!" Harry said bouncing around again.  
  
Severus rolled his eyes. Knowing he was just woken up to be told something he clearly already knew.  
  
"Was that all you wanted to tell me, because if it was I would like to get some more sleep." Severus said, laying back down, and pre-paring to go back to sleep again, knowing full well Harry wouldn't allow that, and as if on cue, he felt his arm being pulled, in an effort to pull him out of bed.  
  
"Come on Severus, I'm hungry." Harry said, trying with all his might to get Severus up.  
  
Severus let out an exasperated yell and sat up fully on his bed. He quickly swung his legs over the side and looked evilly at Harry, still looking directly at Harry, who was now looking cautiously at him, he took his wand from behind his pillow. He smiled and pointed it at Harry, who in turn looked on in horror, and in a split second Harry was out of there.  
  
Severus smiled at the effect that it had had on Harry, he placed his wand back where it had been before and looked longingly at his bed. But he knew it would be only a matter of time before Harry was back up here again. He slowly got changed and headed down to the kitchen.  
  
**************************************************  
  
Breakfast had gone uneventfully, with Severus glaring down at the extremely happy boy eating in front of him. As soon as they had finished, Severus told Harry to sit in the living room and to not move out of there until Severus came back. Severus knew he didn't have long, as Harry was a curious boy and would soon be walking around the house, looking for Severus, so Severus rushed into the basement, and into a back storage room, where he picked up Harry's present and then preceded to go back towards the living room, where he found Harry sitting anxiously on the couch.  
  
He walked over to Harry and bent down in front of him, his hands with the present behind him. He smiled as Harry curiously looked at Severus to see what he was hiding. He waited until he could tell Harry was about to burst, and then spoke.  
  
"Happy Birthday Harry" he then produced the present, which was not wrapped, but had a light blanket covering it.  
  
Harry carefully removed the blanket and gasped in shock. Right in front of him was the owl he had spent all day at Diagon Alley patting in a beautiful silver cage. It was the baby snowy white owl.  
  
"Is this for me?" Harry asked disbelievingly.  
  
"Yep, sure is. When I went back to Diagon Alley to get my potion supplies, I happened to speak to the owner of the shop that you had gone into before, and he mentioned your interest in this particular owl, and since the only two times I have lost you, it has been to find you with owls, this will hopefully minimise the chance of any more wondering-" Severus said with a pointed look, but was cut off as Harry had jumped to his feet and hugged Severus around the neck, as he was still bent down in front of him.  
  
"Thankyou so much! This is the best present I've ever had!" Harry said, knowing that this was the only present that he could remember ever receiving.  
  
Severus chuckled lightly and hugged him back, but was quick to pull away.  
  
"So what are you going to name her?" Severus asked.  
  
"I'm not sure" Harry said, looking back to the owl and taking her out of her cage. Sitting back down he placed her on his lap, and patted her on the head, she cooed in response.  
  
"I'll go get some owl treats." Severus said walking out of the living room and up the stairs to get to his room. He walked over to a draw by his bed and pulled it open. He grabbed a bag, which was full of owl food, which he had gotten in preparation for this, and walked back down to the living room, taking a second to watch Harry and his owl together. They really got along.  
  
He placed the owl treats beside Harry, telling him not to feed her too much, then ruffled his hair and walked back out into the kitchen. He needed some caffeine.  
  
********************************************  
  
About 5 hours later Remus popped by, using the fireplace, only to find Severus asleep in a chair, which was facing Harry and his owl, whom were still together playing, but now they were on the ground of the living room.  
  
Remus laughed to himself, and walked over to Harry. He sat beside him and smiled at the look of pure happiness on the boys face.  
  
"Hi Harry. Happy Birthday!" Remus said, patting the boy on the shoulder.  
  
Harry looked away from the bird and smiled at Remus.  
  
"Look what Severus brought me!" Harry said indicating to the owl. "Isn't she beautiful?" Harry said with lots of enthusiasm.  
  
"Yes she is, have you decided on a name yet?" Remus said, looking at the uniquely beautiful snowy owl in front of him.  
  
"No, not yet" Harry said, looking as though he was trying to think of what he was going to call her.  
  
"Well, I hope you like my present that I got for you." Remus replied, smiling at Harry while he pulled what looked like a book out of what nowhere.  
  
Harry smiled at Remus and opened the book, only to reveal a whole lot of moving photos. He looked curiously at them and then back to Remus.  
  
Remus pointed to one picture in particular, which was of a man, and a woman who was holding a baby. They looked really happy.  
  
"That's James, your father" He said while pointing to the man in the photo. "That's Lily, you mother" He said while pointing to the woman in the photo. "And that adorable little baby-" He said while pointing to the baby. "-is you."  
  
Harry looked in wonderment. He had never seen his parents before, well not that he could remember. He only knew that they died when he was one, and the Dursleys had said it had been in a car accident, he wasn't sure if he should believe them. He made a mental note to ask Severus about that later.  
  
He took his finger and lightly touched his parent's faces. He briefly wondered what they were like. He flipped through the album and when he reached the last page he looked back up at Remus.  
  
"If you ever want to hear about what they were like Harry, I'll be happy to tell you, they were great people, you parent's." Remus said with a sad smile on his face.  
  
"Thankyou" Harry whispered.  
  
"Now, what do you say we go wake up Severus!" Remus said, his face lighting up more now they were onto a different subject.  
  
*******************************************  
  
After having Harry climb onto the edge of the chair and then jump onto Severus, jolting him awake, Harry had then been chased around the house, until Severus gave up, unable to find him. He walked back into the living room to see a very amused Remus sitting on the couch.  
  
Severus just rolled his eyes at him and kept walking into the kitchen.  
  
As soon as Severus finished pouring himself some coffee, Remus entered the room, with Harry hiding behind him. Severus looked at Remus, then down to Harry, where he narrowed his eyes, and then he went and sat down on the kitchen table, without saying a word.  
  
Harry slowly stepped away from Remus, and very slowly made his way towards Severus, who was silently drinking his coffee.  
  
Only when Harry was standing directly in front of him did Severus actually acknowledge him, he glared into Harry's seemingly innocent eyes.  
  
Remus watched leaning on the doorframe, amused. He hadn't seen Harry and Severus together much, Albus had said they were perfect for each other, and at the time Remus couldn't think that was correct, James Potter's son, getting along with Severus Snape! But now he really got to see how they got along. When he first saw Harry and Severus together, he didn't really take notice of how they acted with each other, but now he could see Albus was right. Severus may have helped Harry a lot, but Harry had helped Severus just as much as well.  
  
"I'm sorry Severus, I didn't mean to wake you, I was just trying to show Remus how to...umm..." Harry was quickly trying to think of an excuse that would get him out of this.  
  
Severus waited, still feeling the effects of being jumped on, not that Harry weighed much of course, 4 years of that abuse, and barely feeding him would take a long time to even out, plus he was very short for his age, which it probably didn't help that he was stuck in a cupboard for 4 years!  
  
"Yes..." Severus said, prompting him to continue.  
  
"I was just trying to show Remus...how to...how to not try and wake you!" Harry said, finally thinking of something "Now you can be sure that if Remus wanted to wake you up, he wouldn't do it by jumping on you, because he now knows you don't like that!" Harry seemed quite pleased with himself, not realising that what he just said sounded more made up then fairytales.  
  
Remus couldn't keep the smile that was on his face off after hearing Harry's explanation even if he wanted to. He could tell Severus was trying not to smile to.  
  
"Right...well maybe next time you can just tell Remus how not to wake me, instead of showing him. Okay?" Severus said, shaking his head at his weakness of punishing Harry.  
  
Harry nodded eagerly, obviously happy he was getting off without a punishment.  
  
"Okay, now off you go, I'll fix you up some lunch." Severus said, shooing him away.  
  
Harry smiled and ran out of the kitchen to go find his owl.  
  
Remus smiled after him, and then headed over to the table Severus was sitting at, and he too sat down.  
  
"Amazing, truly amazing!" Remus said, looking directly at Severus who was taking a long sip of coffee.  
  
"What?" Severus said, looking confused at Remus.  
  
"Nothing" Remus smiled to himself. "So, you seem a bit tired there."  
  
"Yes well you try going to sleep at two in the morning, only to be woken up just before six by a very energetic kid who so far has shown no sign of letting up." Severus said looking more exhausted by the minute. He looked again at his coffee and made an annoyed face. Then got up and went down to his storage room.  
  
Remus' smiled even wider.  
  
Once Severus re-entered he sat back down and slipped something in his drink and then went back to sipping it.  
  
He looked up when Albus Dumbledore entered, they must have not heard him come in.  
  
"Good afternoon. I can't stay long. I just dropped by to give Harry his present." Albus said, giving an envelope to Harry who was now standing next to him. "Happy Birthday Harry."  
  
Harry opened it to find a piece of parchment, with something written on it. Since he couldn't read yet he handed it to Severus who read it out loud.  
  
To Mr. Harry Potter, This voucher gives you an unlimited supply of candy from Honeydukes in Hogsmeade for one hundred years. Use it well.  
  
Signed: Albus Dumbledore  
  
"Albus, I don't think-" Severus started but was cut off by an extremely happy Harry.  
  
"Thankyou so much" Harry said, smiling brightly.  
  
"You're very welcome Harry." Dumbledore said, smiling warmly at Harry. "Now if you don't mind, I would like to have a quick word with you Severus, then I must be off." Dumbledore said, edging towards the door.  
  
"Of course" Severus said, getting up and following him.  
  
***********************************************  
  
"Now I hate to bring this up now, but I know you would hate me to not keep you informed. Lucius Malfoy has made a formal complaint against your custody of Harry, now it seems he has been able to bribe or scare a lot of the committee to vote against you, but since holidays are almost nearly up, and soon Harry and yourself will be returning to Hogwarts, I have been able to hold them off for now, knowing that the safest place for anyone is at Hogwarts. But I can't promise you anything for the next holidays, now we will all be working throughout the year to fight this, but just be prepared." Albus said, looking grave.  
  
Severus felt a lot of things go through him at that moment, surprise, sadness, anger, hopelessness and determination were a few of them.  
  
"Now I must be off, I'll see you soon." Albus said, while turning around and heading towards the fire.  
  
Severus just nodded, not trusting himself to speak.  
  
He walked back into the kitchen where Harry was laughing about something with Remus. It was hard to believe that not long ago that same little boy wouldn't let anyone near him except Severus, that same boy who was beaten and left in a cupboard. He looked so happy and healthy now. Severus just prayed that everything would work out okay.  
  
*******************************************************  
  
Remus left around 7 and Severus didn't know if he could last much longer. Having had a late night before and a very early wake up call, he was exhausted. He collapsed into a chair in the living room and closed his eyes. Just as he was dozing off he felt something climbing up onto his lap. He opened his eyes to see a sleepy looking Harry making himself comfortable in his lap. Severus smiled slightly as Harry leaned his head against his chest and dozed off, having not said a word.  
  
After a few minutes, Severus too fell asleep. 


	7. Owl?

A Different Life  
Chapter 7 - Owl?  
  
Severus awoke to someone pulling on his arm. He looked over to see Harry looking very worried. He went to sit up but he immediately stopped half way feeling immensely stiff.  
  
"What is it Harry?" Severus asked, stretching as best he could while still sitting in the chair.  
  
"Owl is missing, she flew off, and I can't find her." Harry said in a rush, trying to make Severus stand up.  
  
"Owl?" Severus asked, trying to remember what Harry was talking about.  
  
"Yes Owl, I named her Owl." Harry quickly said  
  
"You named her what?!" Severus said, wondering what possessed him to call her Owl!  
  
"Owl...I kept calling her Owl because I couldn't think of a name, and she seems to like being called Owl. Now quick!" Harry said, running out of the room.  
  
Severus slightly groaned and reluctantly followed Harry, wondering what was the time was he looked at his watch, which he had forgotten to remove from last night to see that it was 5am. Why was Harry so insistent on getting up so early? Though they did have an early night... Severus was pulled out of his thoughts by Harry pushing him from behind.  
  
Once they were outside Harry began looking around frantically in the sky, trying to see her.  
  
"See, I can't find her, I've lost her! What if she dies? It will be my fault. I'm a terrible person, how could I have done this? I'm so sorry..." Harry was still frantically searching, trying to look in three places at once.  
  
"Harry" Severus said softly, but Harry didn't even seem to hear him.  
  
"Harry!" Severus said more forcefully. He sat down in front of Harry, feeling too tired to be standing.  
  
He pulled Harry to sit in front of him too, though that didn't stop Harry's head from moving around, trying to spot his owl.  
  
Severus sighed, he then took both his hands and put them on either side of Harry's face, making him face him and not being able to keep moving his head around.  
  
"Harry, I assure you, Owl-" Severus made a face at saying it's name "- will be fine, she's just getting a feel for the place, probably hunting for some food... she'll be back in no time, so stop worrying. And you are not a terrible person, if I remember correctly, I have lost you twice, so I wouldn't worry just yet about that." Severus said, waiting for Harry to nod his head before letting go of his head. "Now, how about you get some more sleep?" Severus said hopefully.  
  
"I'm not tired..." Harry mumbled, still looking around to see if he could see Owl, but not as frantically as he was before.  
  
"Come on, let's get some breakfast." Severus said, leading a very reluctant Harry inside.  
  
Once Severus was taking gulps of Coffee to try and wake him up, Harry suddenly looked up at him, as if remembering something.  
  
"How did my parents die?" Harry asked innocently.  
  
Severus immediately spit out the coffee that was in his mouth, clearly not expecting that to be Harry's question.  
  
Harry looked slightly shocked by his reaction, but ignored it and continued talking.  
  
"My Aunt once said that they had died in a car accident... is that true?"  
  
Severus, getting over his initial shock, waved his wand and all the coffee that he had spat out was cleaned up.  
  
"Harry, I'm not sure I'm the right person to be asking... maybe next time you see Albus, he will tell you..." Severus said, seeing the disappointment on Harry's face.  
  
"...Okay..." Harry said, falling into an uneasy silence.  
  
Severus couldn't stand the look in Harry's eyes... God he hated himself when he was weak.  
  
"Okay, I'll see what Albus is doing today, but no promises."  
  
Harry's face immediately lit up. He was finally going to get some answers!  
  
"You wait here... I want to see that you have finished all your breakfast when I come back." And with that Severus walked back out and into his living room to floo to Hogwarts.  
  
Harry sat patiently waiting for Severus to get back, he had to resist the urge to go spy on Severus, knowing that he was probably talking to Dumbledore through the fire.  
  
After what felt like ages, but was probably only in fact about 5minutes, Severus re-entered the kitchen.  
  
He looked on in amusement as he saw Harry face, full of anticipation.  
  
"Well?" Harry said, hope flickering around his face.  
  
"Well what?" Severus said, enjoying teasing the boy.  
  
Harry pouted, and Severus out righted laughed at that.  
  
"Alright, alright." Severus said sitting next to Harry, he first checked Harry's plate to see that he had eaten all his toast. "Okay, Albus will be coming over for dinner, and he will explain everything to you after dinner."  
  
Harry smiled and jumped up from his chair.  
  
"But" Severus said.  
  
Harry's smile flickered slightly.  
  
"Only on the condition that you do not get out of bed, unless I say you can, or if it is an emergency before 8 o'clock am until we get to Hogwarts. Is that understood?" Severus said, smiling inwardly at his own brilliance.  
  
Harry thought for a moment, and then nodded his head enthusiastically, agreeing to what Severus had asked.  
  
*************************************************  
  
The day past quickly with Harry playing outside, wondering around looking for Owl, and Severus down in his dungeon, making some potions and making lesson plans for his students for when school started.  
  
When there was half an hour before Albus was due to arrive, Severus went to go get Harry, knowing that he would use magic to cook, therefore it wouldn't take very long to prepare.  
  
Upon seeing Harry he openly gaped at him.  
  
"I...ummm...I had a small accident." Harry said, indicating to his clothes with were absolutely covered in mud. He smiled innocently.  
  
Then Severus heard the fire blaze behind him and he turned to see Dumbledore step through. While he was dusting himself off he began talking, not looking up.  
  
"Sorry I'm early Severus, but I was hoping I could get a head start on..." Dumbledore looked up to see Harry covered in mud just in the doorway, Severus just beside him. "...on explaining everything. Hello Harry." Dumbledore finished off, smiling at Harry, eyes twinkling like never before. Amusement written all over his face.  
  
"Hello Albus" Harry went to Walk into the room but Severus grabbed the collar of his shirt dragging him back.  
  
"Oh no you don't, I don't want to be cleaning up mud everywhere. Now go up to the bathroom and clean up."  
  
Harry immediately ran up the stairs and into the bathroom up there.  
  
Severus just stared after him until he was out of sight, shaking his head at him.  
  
After about 15 minutes Harry came back down, his clothes were changed and he didn't look quite as muddy, though you could still see it on him in a few places. In his hand he held his dirty clothes.  
  
"Where do I-" Harry began but Severus just waved his wand and the clothes that were in Harry's hand disappeared. And so did the stray bits of mud that had been on Harry.  
  
"Thanks..." Harry said, looking down at himself.  
  
By this time dinner was ready so the discussion was going to have to wait until after to happen.  
  
Harry wasn't really a fussy eater, 4 years at the Dursleys had taught him to eat whatever was put on his plate, no matter how disgusting since it might be the last time he was fed for a while.  
  
About half way through Owl flew in through an open window. She immediately flew over to Harry and nipped his Finger.  
  
"Owl! Your back!" Harry said excitedly, patting her on the head.  
  
"Owl?" Dumbledore asked, looking at Severus.  
  
"Hey, don't look at me. I wasn't the one who named her." Severus said, taking a mouth full of his dinner.  
  
"What's wrong with the name Owl?" Harry said slightly defensively.  
  
"Well it's not very imaginative." Severus said.  
  
Harry narrowed his eyes slightly at Severus and then turned to Dumbledore. "Albus, do you know of any other person who owns an owl, or any owl for that matter, which is called Owl?" Harry asked, smiling sweetly at him.  
  
Dumbledore chuckled. "No, I believe you are the first person that I know of to call their owl Owl. I do believe he has got you there Severus." Albus said, widely smiling.  
  
Severus rolled his eyes at the both smiling people around him, he knew he wasn't going to win this one even though he knew he was right, and he didn't have the energy, he was starting to feel tired already. He was thoroughly looking forward to being able to sleep in longer then usual tomorrow.  
  
Once dinner was finished, they moved into the living room and settled into the furniture there.  
  
Dumbledore explained everything, but left out any mention of Severus ever being a Death Eater. But he explained mostly everything else.  
  
Harry just sat shocked, a couple of times Severus was sure Harry looked like he was about to cry, but he never did.  
  
Harry had never imaged this was what had happened. His parents were murdered! And he made the evil wizard who did it go away?  
  
Once Dumbledore had finished explaining it all they all sat in silence for a while, Severus was the first to break it.  
  
"Go brush your teeth and get ready for bed Harry. I'll be up in a minute to check on you." Severus said, feeling slightly sad for the boy, more innocence being ripped away from him.  
  
Harry didn't even look as though he registered what he had said, but he got up, indicating that he probably did.  
  
Harry was feeling very sick by the end of it all, and was glad when he got the chance to leave.  
  
Once Harry was gone Severus turned to face Albus again.  
  
"Thankyou Albus for telling him, I don't think I could have." Severus said as they made their way over to the fireplace.  
  
"That is quit alright. Tell Harry I said goodbye. Oh and Severus, thankyou for a lovely dinner." And with that Dumbledore stepped into the fire and he went back to Hogwarts.  
  
Severus made his way back upstairs and checked on Harry, he saw that he was in his pyjamas brushing his teeth still.  
  
Once Severus saw Harry go back into his room Severus went into his room and got ready for bed.  
  
He put just flannel pants on and a plain long sleeved shirt and was about to get into bed when he heard his door creak open slightly, looking over his shoulder he saw Harry standing in his doorway.  
  
"Harry... what's the matter?" Severus said, ushering Harry to come over as he sat on his bed.  
  
Harry walked over to Severus so he was directly in front of him.  
  
"I don't feel to well." Harry whispered.  
  
Severus felt his forehead but it didn't feel too warm.  
  
The truth was Harry didn't want to be alone in his room that night.  
  
Severus seemed to realise that as well. He sighed.  
  
"Did you want to stay here tonight?" Severus asked.  
  
Harry immediately nodded, a weak smile appearing on his face briefly.  
  
Severus picked him up and placed him on the other side of the bed. Helping to tuck him in.  
  
"Now remember, I don't want you to wake me up before 8am, okay. Unless of course it is an emergency.  
  
Harry nodded and slowly drifted off to sleep.  
  
Severus watched him for a while before sleep slowly took him over as well. 


	8. The Talk

Thankyou to angeL_1215, Sinner's Angel, Rickman's Girl, Crabbe, Ms. Padfoot and luna699. I love reading you reviews and I'm glad that you are enjoying this! I take all your reviews into consideration and appreciate them!   
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 8 - The Talk  
  
Harry was quieter over the last couple of weeks, but he was slowly turning back to normal. He was quite proud of the fact that he hadn't once woke Severus up before 8am, although he often came quite close.  
  
But today was different from any other day, Harry had permission to wake Severus up early, today they had to get ready to leave for Hogwarts. School still didn't start for another week, but teachers had to come early to prepare.  
  
Mostly everything was packed, but they had to leave early and there still were some things that needed to still be put away. Plus Severus had to shrink it all down so they would be able to carry it all instead of having to make several trips.  
  
Harry was sad to see that this was the last time he would be sleeping in this room until possibly next summer holidays. He would really miss it.  
  
Every room was filled with boxes, mostly full of potions that Severus had yet to shrink.  
  
At 6:30am Harry walked into Severus room to find it still pitch black in there, it was always really dark in Severus' room, even though he had a window, Harry suspected that he put a spell on his room to keep it that way in the mornings.  
  
Harry was walking around blindly in the dark when he suddenly tripped over something on the floor. He landed unsteadily on his ankle and heard a not so nice crack.  
  
He bit back a cry as pain surged up his whole leg, throbbing.  
  
After a few seconds he heard some movement and a moment later the room filled with light. Once a very sleepy Severus spotted Harry he was by his side in a flash.  
  
"Oh God Harry, are you okay?" Severus asked, but seeing Harry's eyes watering and the look of pain on his face he didn't even need him to answer.  
  
He looked down at Harry's ankle and could already tell that he had hurt it badly.  
  
Severus picked Harry up and placed him on his bed, carefully avoiding making his ankle make any contact with anything around them.  
  
Harry winced as his ankle touch the bed.  
  
Severus ran out of the room, only to return a little while later with a stack of potions.  
  
"Now I'm no Doctor, so I'm not sure how to mend your bones using a wand, but these potions should help a bit until we get you to Madam Pomfrey." Severus knew that these weren't going to taste nice but it was all he had.  
  
They would heal his bone for a few hours, so he would be able to walk around a bit.  
  
Harry slowly had all the potions, making faces as he did.  
  
He let Harry lay down for a bit, resting before he asked him to stand up. It was a bit shaky at first, but Harry was alright to walk.  
  
After a lot of rushing they arrived at Hogwarts.  
  
Severus led Harry to the Hospital Wing to get his ankle mended, knowing that his potions would wear off soon.  
  
As soon as they got to the Hospital Wing Severus left Harry to go check on their living quarters.  
  
It didn't take long for Madam Pomfrey to heal him, after several tutting at him for not being more careful. She told him that he would have to look out for this ankle, as it was still not completely right after hurting it at the Dursleys. He had had that injury for a while at the Dursleys, and not having it checked out had really damaged it.  
  
He waited for a while for Severus to come back but curiosity got the better of him and he soon found himself wondering around the halls again, though this time it was not in a panic.  
  
Harry was looking at a moving picture on the wall, fascinated by it when a voice behind him made him jump.  
  
"Well if it isn't the famous Harry Potter wondering the halls by himself, one would think he was lost, tut tut, Severus is not doing a very good job is he, Hogwarts is no place for a child-" Lucius Malfoy began but was cut off.  
  
"Harry is not lost and he is not by himself, as I am here. Now may I ask why you are here Lucius?" Severus asked sneering at the anger he saw flashing through Lucius' face.  
  
"I have a meeting with Dumbledore about an annoying-" Lucius looked at Harry "- problem."  
  
Severus glared and looked like he was about to say something when Dumbledore came around the corner.  
  
"Here you are Lucius." Dumbledore then looked to Severus and Harry.  
  
"Severus, Harry." He said, nodding to them, and then he continued. "Lucius, I won't be a moment, I would just like a quick word with Severus and then we can head up to my office."  
  
"Yes, of course." Lucius said, smiling at Dumbledore.  
  
Severus rolled his eyes at him and then walked a little bit away from them, still close enough to be able to see them, but not close enough for them to be able to hear what they were saying.  
  
Harry watched them leave and then turned his attention to Lucius, suddenly feeling very nervous, he knew he should wait for Severus, but that still didn't stop him from wanting to run away from the man in front of him.  
  
Lucius knelled down in front of Harry, so they were directly in front of each other and eye level.  
  
The Lucius smiled and began to talk.  
  
"Don't worry Potter, you'll be back with your Aunt and Uncle soon, I'll see to it personally. There is nothing Snape or Dumbledore can do about it."  
  
Harry looked horrified at the thought. His breathing started to quicken, but he tried to remain as calm as he could.  
  
"I hope you realise what Severus has gone for you, what he has given up just to take care of you. He has put his life on hold just for you. And I'm sure he would be getting annoyed of you by now, who wouldn't." Lucius said with quite a lot of disgust in his voice. "It will only be a matter of time before he gets so sick of you Potter, and does what you claim you Uncle did to you."  
  
"No, no you're wrong, he would never..." Harry said, hoping he sounded more confident then he felt.  
  
"How can you be so sure Potter? I mean do you really know him that well? After all, he is a Death Eater-" Lucius then gasped, bringing his hand to cover his mouth like he had just said something he wasn't meant to. If Harry had looked closely he would have noticed that behind his hand was a smile.  
  
"No." Harry gasped, knowing Severus would never be a Death Eater, remembering them from when Dumbledore had come over and explained what they were to him, followers of the wizard who killed his parents.  
  
"Really Potter, well there is one way you can be sure. Look at his left forearm, there will lay a dark mark, a skull with a snake. The mark of a Death Eater. If there is not one there, then I guess you are right, he is not a Death Eater..." Lucius smiled, knowing full well that Severus would have the dark mark there, as he did on his own arm.  
  
Either of them said anything after that, Harry was deep in thought, trying to reassure himself that Severus would never allow him to return to his Aunt and Uncle's, that Severus would never hurt him and that he was never a Death Eater.  
  
*******************************************  
  
So why the hell is Lucius here?" Severus said, trying to keep his voice down.  
  
"Lucius is here for a meeting about Harry staying here." Dumbledore said calmly. But seeing the look on Severus' face he continued.  
  
"Don't worry Severus, so far their only strong argument has been that there are certain protections on the Dursleys house that have been helping to protect Harry, only ones that a blood relative can give."  
  
Severus looked like he was going to give Dumbledore an earful about what type of 'protections' the Dursleys had given Harry, when Albus held his hand up indicating for him to stop.  
  
"I know Severus, I know... well Hogwarts is an even safer place for Harry then the Dursleys, so they won't take him while he is here, and then after being with you for a year. It would be very unlikely that they will remove him, he might have to testify that he is happy to stay with you though. Now I mustn't keep Lucius waiting. Make sure you give Harry a tour of Hogwarts, so it might help prevent future problems." Dumbledore said, peering over his glasses.  
  
Severus nodded and both of them walked over to Lucius and Harry.  
  
As soon as Lucius saw them coming towards them, he stood up and faced them.  
  
What Severus saw made him narrow his eyes in suspicion. Harry looked very upset and Lucius had a very evil grin on his face.  
  
***********************************************  
  
"Are you okay Harry?" Severus said, worried. Harry had barely said two words to him through the entire tour of Hogwarts, at first he thought that Harry was probably amazed by the sights he was seeing, but now he thought it was something more. He wanted to know what Lucius had said to him.  
  
"Fine..." Harry whispered, watching a painting as they walked past it. The person in it was waving madly to him.  
  
"Harry, what's wrong?" Severus said, stopping Harry so they could talk.  
  
"Am I going back to the Dursleys?" Harry asked, his face completely sad.  
  
"WHAT?!" Severus yelled, not expecting that to be what Harry said. Lowering his voice he continued. "Of course not Harry, you'll never go back there, I promised remember."  
  
Harry remembered that promise. But he also made the decision that he would check Severus for the mark the next morning, since he knew he would be up before Severus, but he also knew that he wouldn't find anything. He had complete faith that Severus would never become a Death Eater. EVER!  
  
Harry smiled at Severus, as if trying to reassure him.  
  
"Harry, whatever made you think that you would be going back there?" Severus asked, though having a feeling Lucius had something to do with it.  
  
"Umm..." Harry said, not really wanting to tell Severus, but seeing the look on his face he continued. "That man that was here earlier."  
  
Harry looked down at his feet.  
  
Severus breathed out, knowing the next time he saw Lucius he was going to have very strong words with him.  
  
"Did he say anything else Harry?" Severus asked.  
  
Harry shook his head, indicating 'no' but Severus highly doubted that, but didn't pressure the boy with it anymore.  
  
And they continued on with the tour.  
  
Severus didn't take him outside as it was getting late, he didn't think they would be able to see any of it anyway. So they headed off to their rooms.  
  
Harry liked his room he had here as well, it looked a lot like the one he had at Snape Manor, except everything was placed in different places, and they were in different types of materials, different types of wood. It seemed a bit colder, the whole place felt colder, but that was probably because they were in a dungeon.  
  
His room was down the hall from Severus.  
  
The place was a lot different from what he was used to. As soon as you went through the portrait hole, you were in a living room, which had seats and a fireplace. Then there was a kitchen, with a table that you could eat at, a study room, with loads of books and a giant desk to work at. Then Harry's room, then a bathroom and then Severus' room, which looked exactly the same as what his room looked like back at Snape Manor.  
  
After eating dinner, Harry made his way to bed. Feeling exhausted from the days activities.  
  
Severus watched as Harry left, knowing something was still bothering the boy and desperately wanting to know what. But also knowing that he couldn't force Harry to tell him, the boy had to be the one to tell him.  
  
***************************************  
  
Harry woke up early the next morning. He had gotten hardly any sleep that night, but he had to know, he had to be sure. He quickly got changed and then quietly snuck out of his room and made his way down to Severus' room.  
  
It was still dark in his room, and Harry suspected that there still was a spell to make it that way, but it didn't seem as dark as it normally was. It was light enough to make things out, probably so if Harry needed to come in, he would hurt himself trying to find his way around.  
  
Harry made his way over to Severus' sleeping form, only to find he was in the middle of the double bed. So Harry crawled up onto the bed and over to Severus, trying not to make the bed move too much.  
  
Luckily Severus' arms were not under the covers, so Harry could easily get to his left arm.  
  
He carefully lifted Severus' sleeve up, careful not to be too rough and wake him up.  
  
Finally the sleeve was up as high as Harry could get it, he slowly turned his arm around so he could see if there was a tattoo. It was hard to see since it was so dark, but Harry could slightly see a mark on Severus' forearm. The dark mark was there, just where that man had said it would be. So it was true. Severus was a Death Eater.  
  
Harry gasped and tried to move away, but he soon ran out of bed and fell onto the floor with a loud thump.  
  
"What?" Severus immediately woke up, sitting straight up in his bed, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes.  
  
"Harry?" Severus said, squinting his eyes at the retreating figure, heading slowly towards the door.  
  
"What's wrong?" Severus asked, now confused as to what Harry was doing.  
  
All Harry could think of was that he had to get away from Severus. He had to leave now. And without a second thought, Harry fled from the room, leaving a stunned and confused Severus behind.  
  
Harry ran straight out of the portrait hole and didn't stop running until he needed to catch his breath.  
  
When he looked up he found himself outside Dumbledore's office, remembering the old looking Gargoyle that guarded his office. It was strange, he wasn't really concentrating on where he was going, yet he ended up here. He was just about to keep going down the corridor when he saw the gargoyle move before him, and out stepped Dumbledore himself.  
  
*****************************************  
  
Severus watched as Harry ran out of the room, as though scared of something. Severus went to get up and see what was wrong when he noticed his left sleeve was up, showing his tattoo to all who could see.  
  
'Oh God, Harry had seen it!'  
  
Severus ran out of his rooms in search of Harry, only bothering to mutter a spell as he looked for Harry that changed his clothes. 


	9. Trust

Thankyou to angeL_1215, athenakitty, Furies, Sinner's Angel, Lei Dumbledore and Morgana for reviewing!  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 9 - Trust  
  
"Harry?" Dumbledore said, shocked at seeing Harry outside his office early in the morning looking upset.  
  
"I saw it, that man was right, I saw it just where he said I would." Harry said all in a rush, breathing heavily.  
  
"Why don't you come into my office Harry... you can have a lemon drop and we can talk." Dumbledore said soothingly.  
  
Harry just nodded numbly.  
  
Once they were both settled in Albus was the first to speak.  
  
"Now Harry, what did you see?"  
  
Harry remained silent, just staring at the ground.  
  
"Harry..." Dumbledore said, reaching over and taking Harry's head in his hand, making him look into his eyes.  
  
"The dark mark..." Harry whispered.  
  
He didn't need to say anymore, Dumbledore knew what he meant.  
  
He pulled back from Harry and sat back in thought.  
  
"What did you mean when you said 'that man was right'?" Dumbledore asked, wondering who had told Harry, but having a good idea who it was.  
  
"That man that was here yesterday, he told me- he told me that Severus was a Death Eater and..." Harry didn't continue on, trying to stop the tears that were threatening to spill.  
  
"It's alright Harry, take your time. I know this must be hard for you. But it is important that you tell me what this man said. Please Harry." Albus said, watching the way Harry was reacting carefully.  
  
"He said that he would make sure that I would be going back to the Dursleys, that Severus had given up a lot to take care of me, that he was getting annoyed with me and that soon he would do to me what my uncle had done to me." Harry said in a small voice. A few stray tears escaping his eyes.  
  
Anger flashed through Dumbledore's face, fury was in the depth of his eyes, but as fast and it came it went.  
  
"Harry, I want to assure you that Severus would never hurt you. There is more to him being a Death Eater then you know, which is something that I will let him tell you about. Just know that he was and always is fighting for the good side. You can trust him." Dumbledore said.  
  
Harry nodded, feeling a bit better then what he had felt before.  
  
"I do believe Remus has just arrived late last night. You should pay him a visit, I'm sure he would like that." Albus said, smiling at the smile Harry had on his face at the thought of seeing Remus again.  
  
"Go, run along child, have some fun." Dumbledore smiled  
  
"I think I'll go check on Owl first, see how she's settling in, where can I find Remus?" Harry asked, almost as if an after thought.  
  
"I think you will be able to find him in the staff room." Albus said, watching as Harry got up and began to head for the door.  
  
Just before he left, Harry poked his head back in and said "Thanks."  
  
Harry wondered out and headed in what he was pretty sure was the direction of the Owlery.  
  
**********************************************  
  
"Severus..." Dumbledore said, finally finding him in a classroom, looking for Harry.  
  
"Albus, thank God your here, I can't find Harry. I think he saw my Dark Mark and took off." Severus said in a rush, looking behind a few desks.  
  
"Severus, you can stop looking, I know where Harry is. He was just in my office a moment ago. We had a talk and now I need to talk to you.  
  
****************************************************  
  
Harry spent about 20mins with Owl before she flew off. He watched her go and then headed down the stairs in search for the staff room. He actually didn't know where it was but he was sure it wouldn't be too hard to find.  
  
And after getting himself completely lost he managed to find someone.  
  
"Harry? Is that you?" A lady said.  
  
Harry nodded, not knowing if he should trust this person or not.  
  
"You look just like James! I see you have Lily's eyes. Are you lost?" the lady said, smiling nicely at him. He quickly decided that he liked this person.  
  
"A bit, I'm looking for Remus, I was told he would be in the Staff room, but I'm not sure where that is." Harry said, looking around, realising he didn't even remember what direction he had come in.  
  
"Not to worry dear, I was just heading there myself, I'll take you." The lady said, and they started walking together.  
  
"My name is Professor Minerva McGonagall, I teach Transfiguration here."  
  
They had a brief conversation and soon reached the staff room.  
  
Harry immediately spotted Remus and he ran over to him, yelling his thanks to the professor over his shoulder as he was running.  
  
He stopped in front of the sitting figure of Remus smiling at him.  
  
"Hello Remus"  
  
"Hello Harry, come to see me have you?" Remus said, a knowing smile on his face.  
  
Harry nodded.  
  
"Well I was just about to head out back to my rooms, would you like to join me." Remus asked, watching as Harry nodded enthusiastically.  
  
"Come on."  
  
Harry took note of where they went so he knew where to go next time if he needed to find Remus.  
  
After spending a lot of time talking with Remus and hearing a couple of stories about his parents Harry started to feel very tired. He spent lunch with Remus and as soon as he was finished he went over to the couch that Remus had and laid down on it, feeling his eyes drooping and finally falling asleep.  
  
****************************************  
  
Remus watched as Harry got up and went over to his couch, falling asleep. He could tell Harry had been tired and was wondering when he would fall asleep. At one point he thought he was going to on his plate of food, but luckily he didn't.  
  
Taking one last look at Harry, Remus went and got some parchment out, and started working on ideas for his lessons.  
  
*******************************************  
  
Just before dinner started Remus woke Harry up.  
  
"Harry, come on, it's time to get up." But Harry barely opened his eyes.  
  
After a few more unsuccessful tries, Remus settled for picking Harry up and taking him down to Severus that way. Harry rested his head on Remus' shoulder as he continued to sleep.  
  
A few minutes later he saw Severus, who was just heading down to his quarters then.  
  
"Severus!" Remus shouted out, trying to get Severus attention.  
  
Severus stopped and turned around. Seeing both Remus and Harry he walked back to them.  
  
"Are you heading back to you quarters?" Remus asked.  
  
"Yes, I was on my way just now." Severus answered, looking at Harry's sleeping form.  
  
"Oh good, then you can take a little load off me." Remus said, smiling at the very light figure in his arms.  
  
Remus handed Harry carefully over to Severus.  
  
"He's been asleep since after lunch, he looked so exhausted, I couldn't even wake him to get him to come down here.  
  
"Hmmm..." Severus said, shifting Harry over a bit to a more comfortable spot.  
  
"Well thankyou for looking after him, I should probably start trying to wake him up soon, otherwise he's going to be up at some un-earthly hour tomorrow morning." Severus said, shaking his head slightly at the thought.  
  
Remus smiled at that. "Yes... well I'll leave you to it." And he started to head back off in the direction he came in.  
  
Severus looked at the sleeping boy right in his arms, soon he would have to explain everything that he was hoping that he would never have to tell him, or at least not for a while.  
  
He sighed and then he too began to head back to his rooms.  
  
********************************************  
  
Once in his rooms Severus placed Harry on the couch, he lit the fire to try and warm up the place a bit more and then turned back to Harry.  
  
"Harry..." Severus said, placing his hand on Harry's head gently.  
  
Harry stirred slightly, but remained sleeping.  
  
"Harry..." Severus said again shaking him gently. Still nothing.  
  
Severus thought for a second and then pulled his wand out and from nowhere a bucket of water appeared and splashed Harry in the face, completely drenching him. And then as soon as Harry shot up from where he was lying he was instantly dried.  
  
He looked accusingly at Severus, trying to get his heart rate back down to a normal level.  
  
"You should know by now I'm not a patient person, now come on, I'm starving. " Severus said, heading into the kitchen, Harry following shortly afterward.  
  
*********************************  
  
Once dinner was over Severus told Harry to get ready for bed and that he would be in shortly to explain some things.  
  
Severus came in a short while later to find Harry already in bed waiting for him.  
  
Severus entered and sat down on the other end of his bed.  
  
"Now, I just want you to listen, if you have any questions you can wait until the end, okay?" Severus said, going into teacher mode.  
  
Harry just nodded.  
  
"Okay... now when I was young, after I just finished school I became a Death Eater. A lot of my friends were and I liked the idea of having power over people. I was excellent at potions so I was always very useful. I did some terrible things, things that I'm not proud of at all.  
  
For three years I was a Death Eater, at first I didn't really do a lot, I just got to make potions and watch. Then after two years it was my turn to finally go out there and prove how loyal I was. I had to torture someone. I was so repulsed by what I had done after, thinking of the person I had become...  
  
I went straight to the Ministry and confessed. I gave them information, not wanting to be set free in return. I knew that I had no right to be free after what I had done. I told the Ministry plans that the Dark Lord had.  
  
Anyway, Dumbledore heard of what I had done, and helped to set me free. He told me that I could become a spy to make amens for what I had done, and that I would be more useful that way then sitting in a cell for the rest of my years.  
  
I agreed, and for a year I passed on information to Dumbledore and the Ministry. I even warned your parents that one of their friends was a mole, told them that Voldemort was going to attack them. That's why they went into hiding. Too bad they still trusted Black.  
  
And then after Voldemort's downfall, I helped the Ministry capture Death Eaters. We didn't get them all of course, some that we did catch got away with it, but a lot did go to Azkaban.  
  
Then after a year Dumbledore asked me to teach Potions here at Hogwarts. At first I didn't want to, but after he asked me why I had become a Death Eater, and since I had because I wanted control over people, well who has better control then a teacher over his class. I suppose I can be a bit much for my students but I doubt I'll ever change." Severus took a bit of a break, watching Harry.  
  
Severus couldn't read the expression on his face.  
  
"I'm sorry you had to find out the way you did Harry, but now I think it's time you tried to get some sleep, me as well. I have to get up early tomorrow. I have a teachers meeting so I want you to stay here and not go wondering around. I shouldn't be too long." Severus said, only remembering the meeting just then. He would never know why Dumbledore had to make a meeting so early, though he knew that Harry would probably be awake anyway. The boy hardly ever slept in. Only a few times had he slept in really late over the summer break. Severus had of course cherished those few times.  
  
Harry nodded, and then lay down and turned over, so he wasn't facing Severus, but the wall instead.  
  
Severus sighed at Harry, and then got up to leave. Just as he was about to walk out the door he waved his wand and the lights went out.  
  
Then he heard a small voice say "Thankyou for telling me..."  
  
And then when Severus looked back at Harry, he was fast asleep.  
  
**********************************  
  
Severus woke up early and quickly got ready. After his robes were on he quickly shot out of his room and into the kitchen. He didn't want his stomach to start rumbling half way through the meeting.  
  
After shoving some toast in his mouth he went to go check on Harry.  
  
When he entered his room he was surprised to find him still asleep.  
  
"Harry...Harry..."Severus said, shaking him a bit.  
  
Harry finally stirred and looked up at Severus.  
  
Severus placed his glasses on him and spoke quietly.  
  
"I'm leaving for that meeting now. I'll be back in a couple of hours. If you get hungry there is some food on the table. Behave yourself and don't go wondering around okay." Severus then took Harry's glasses off and placed them where they had been before and left before Harry could say anything.  
  
Harry lay in bed for a little while longer before getting up and eating some breakfast. 


	10. Going Back

A Different Life  
  
Chapter 10 - Going Back  
  
Once school started it was very hectic. During school hours Harry was taught how to read, write and do maths by Severus, Remus, Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore, Professor Flitwick, Professor Binns or Professor Sprout. It depended on who had a free lesson to sit with him. Severus mostly set him work and the other Professors helped him if he had trouble. He spent all lesson times in the staff room as well as Breakfast and Lunch. He sometimes had dinner in either the Great Hall or down in his rooms with Severus.  
  
He actually really liked learning and seemed to have a knack for it. He learned really fast and most of the teachers liked that since that meant that they could get some work done that they would have normally been able to do if Harry wasn't there.  
  
Harry loved to come out and watch the Quidditch matches and sometimes Severus would allow him to go flying, but that was rare and Harry was never allowed to go far or very high.  
It was towards the end of November that Harry and the rest of the teachers would receive bad news.  
  
Harry had been ordered to spend some time with his Aunt and Uncle. Harry of course did not know yet and Severus was dreading having to tell him.  
  
And it was now the time to let Harry know what was happening, they had so far been keeping him in the loop, hoping that they would get full custody of him and not have to tell him everything that had been happening. But the time had come. School would end in a few days  
  
"Harry!" Severus yelled and a few moments later he heard foot steps running towards the living room to where Severus was.  
  
"Yes Professor?" Harry said, smiling at what he had called him, it was what he had to say all during school.  
  
Severus smiled slightly, but his face soon became serious again.  
  
"Harry I have some bad news." Severus said, motioning for Harry to sit down.  
  
'What?" Harry said, slightly alarmed.  
  
"Over the past few months we, that is the other professors and I have been trying to get full custody of you for me. But we have so far been unable to receive this, they will only allow temporarily. But we have managed to get a trial of sorts, and there is a very good chance that we will get full custody, Albus has something up his sleeve I think." Severus said.  
  
"I don't understand, what is so bad about that?" Harry said, clearly confused.  
  
"While the trial is on, you have been ordered to stay with the Dursleys, but only for the duration of the trial, since they are your guardians. But the trial shouldn't take very long at all, only a few days. If we get full custody, your uncle will most likely be taken to the muggle police." Severus said, watching carefully for Harry's reaction.  
  
"W-What! I have to go back to the Dursleys" Harry said, clearly hoping that Severus was joking.  
  
"I'm so sorry Harry, we tried to keep you with me, but they wouldn't allow it." Severus said feeling overwhelmed with sadness.  
  
"Does my uncle know that he could go to jail?" Harry asked suddenly realising what that meant if he knew.  
  
"No, he doesn't know anything about the trial." Severus said, seeing relief on Harry's face.  
  
"When do I leave?" Harry whispered, now looking at the ground.  
  
"In a few days" Severus said, seeing the colour drain from Harry's face once again.  
  
Harry just nodded. Stood up and started walking towards his room.  
  
As he started walking Severus grabbed his arm and made Harry face him.  
  
"Harry, if he lays a finger on you, I want you to get out of there, okay?" Severus said. It was not a question, but a demand.  
  
Harry nodded and then kept walking, shutting the door behind him.  
  
*********************************************  
  
That night Harry lay in his bed, he finally let the silent tears come, the tears he had been holding in since he found out he would be going back to the Dursleys. And after a while, he slowly fell asleep.  
  
***********************************************  
  
"How did he take it?" Dumbledore asked Severus.  
  
"How did you think he took it!" Severus snapped back.  
  
"Sorry..." Severus sighed, realising what he just said.  
  
"Quite alright Severus, I'll leave you to be alone." Dumbledore then left  
  
Severus entered Harry's room that night, not being able to sleep himself. He conjured up a chair and sat back, watching Harry sleep. It wasn't long until he too fell asleep.  
  
*********************************************  
  
The next few days were a blur. All the teachers were looking at him with pity in their eyes. And he hated it. A lot of the time he avoided a lot of the professors so he didn't have to see them.  
  
The morning that Harry was too leave was a hectic one. Remus had stopped by as well as Dumbledore to say goodbye.  
  
***************************************************  
  
Once Severus had apparated with Harry to the same alleyway that they had been in a year ago, they started walking towards Harry's relative's house.  
  
When they were at the front door, Severus bent down towards Harry, so they were eye level.  
  
"I'm going to miss you." Harry said, hugging Severus tightly.  
  
Severus hugging back said "It's only for a few days Harry, remember that."  
  
Once they pulled away Severus did something he had never done before. He kissed Harry on his forehead lightly, and then stood up fully.  
  
"Remember what I said, if he touches you, come find me." Severus said forcefully.  
  
Harry nodded. A tear rolling down his face.  
  
Severus quickly bent back down, and wiped it away. He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Harry. It looked like a tennis ball.  
  
"If anything happens, all you have to do is hold it tightly in your hand and think of the word 'Help', it will alert me and I'll come and get you straight away. Okay?" Severus said helping Harry to place it in his bag.  
  
"And here is some muggle money, and some wizarding money, just in case." Severus handed Harry some money and Harry carefully put it in his pocket.  
  
Harry nodded and was about to say something when the front door opened to reveal a very fat and ugly man.  
  
"I was wondering when you would decide to turn up!" Vernon said angrily.  
  
Severus quickly stood up. He faced Vernon and glared angrily.  
  
"If you lay a finger on Harry, I'll hunt you down and kill you myself. If I hear of any such thing as Harry being back in that cupboard, I'll hunt you down and kill you. And if I hear anything about Harry not getting enough food, I'll hunt you down and kill you. Do I make myself clear Dursley?" Severus said, his glare was far worse then any of the ones Harry had ever seen him give, and that was quite a lot.  
  
Vernon looked shocked and horrified at what Severus had just told him. He dumbly nodded and made way to let Harry in.  
  
Harry smiled weakly at Severus and then took the bag he had brought with him that had clothes, some chocolate in it and now something for Harry to have if he was in trouble. He had decided to leave Owl at home with Severus, where she was sure to be safe. 


	11. Run!

Thankyou to Sinner's Angel, Angel_1215, Lei Dumbledore, Nikora, Morgana, momma-dar, Crabbe and Sakura Le for reviewing! Love you all!  
  
Also I wont be able to update after this for a couple of days so until then, Happy reading!  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 11 - Run!  
  
The first day was awful. You could cut the tension with a knife. He could tell that his Uncle was bursting to do something to him, even yell. But so far he had kept his mouth shut and hadn't laid a hand on him yet. Perhaps it was Severus' threat? Or perhaps he was trying to change? Harry didn't know. He was now sleeping in Dudley's second bedroom.  
  
It was two days later that his Uncle finally went over the edge, and it was because of a visit he got from the same man that had told Harry that Severus was a Death Eater.  
  
******************************************  
  
It seemed being one of the board members did have its uses; Lucius had been able to find out where Harry was, his exact location.  
  
He could tell that he has losing. The other board members were leaning more and more towards letting Harry stay with Snape. The evidence was too high up to just ignore and no bribe or threat would be able to take that away.  
  
Lucius' now went to his backup plan. He was very aware that the Dursleys did not know of the trial happening, and knew that if they did find out that there could be some trouble. He could only hope that the boy's uncle killed Potter before he got the chance to get out.  
  
**************************************  
  
Harry sat at the bottom of the stairs listening... not being able to believe this was happening. His uncle was going to be furious at him.  
  
Lucius explained to Harry's uncle what was happening, that there was a trial and that there was a chance that he could go to jail. That sent his Uncle over the edge.  
  
After seeing the man out, his uncle started towards Harry.  
  
Harry immediately backed up and ran for his room, hoping he could get away from him.  
  
He ran into his room and grabbed his bag that had the tennis like ball in it. But he barely got to open it before his uncle grabbed him from behind and threw him back across the other side of the room, causing him to hit a table, breaking it, which only angered his uncle more.  
  
Harry had never seen him look so mad.  
  
Harry was officially his punching bag. Harry felt like his ribs were going to break. His back, arms and legs wasn't much better. Harry kept blocking his face from getting hit, that always was his uncle's favourite place to hit... he said it would always remind Harry of what he did wrong when he looked in the mirror, so he would learn his lesson.  
  
When Harry thought he could take no more a burst of energy came through him, and with confidence he didn't know he had, he pulled his leg back and kicked his uncle hard in the shin. His uncle's cry of pain was enough distraction for Harry to make a run for it, and he did just that. He ran out of his bedroom and out the front door, and didn't stop  
  
Harry was lucky that his uncle hadn't broken his glasses, so he could still see.  
  
Once he was quite a few streets away he started slowing down to a jog. Only briefly wishing that he had thought to grab his bag as he ran out, but at that moment his only thought had been to run.  
  
As he was jogging he could hear something jingling from inside one of his pockets.  
  
He stopped, putting his hand in one of the pockets that he was sure the noise was coming from he felt something cold.  
  
Taking it out he found that they were coins. He was wearing the same pants that he was when he first went to the Dursleys.  
  
He knew he had to get to Hogwarts but he didn't know where it was... He remembered Severus telling him Diagon Alley was in London... maybe he could go there?  
  
***************************  
  
Harry soon found a bus station and went on one that said London. Hoping he would get off somewhere near Diagon Alley.  
  
Getting on the bus he handed the bus driver most of his muggle money, not knowing if that was enough or too much.  
  
"Hey kid, where are ya parents? Are you alone?" The driver said.  
  
"I'm... meeting them in London." Harry said, trying to look fine. Truth was that he felt he was about to collapse if he didn't sit down soon. He was just glad that he was wearing a long sleeved shirt and pants and a big jacket, so no one could see any of the damage, well at least he hoped not.  
  
"Hmm..." the driver said, looking as though he didn't really believe Harry at all. "Well you've given me too much money. Here" The driver then gave Harry back some of his money and also gave him a ticket. "Off ya go."  
  
Harry smiled and walked over to a spare seat and sat in it, thankful for the break.  
  
He stared out the window, watching the scenery pass him. He watched as people pressed a button and shortly after the bus stopped, and they got out. Harry had never been in a bus before.  
  
Not before long the bus was going through some very old buildings, and Harry swore he saw a sign saying 'The Leaky Cauldron'. So he pushed the button and waited impatiently for the bus to stop.  
  
As soon as it did Harry ran off and headed back in the direction that he had seen that sign.  
  
************************************************  
  
Once in front of the sign, he saw that it did say 'The Leaky Cauldron', though after a second it looked as though it was gone again, but Harry was sure he had seen it so he quickly entered.  
  
It was packed, there were all different types of people in there, and no one seemed to notice him at all.  
  
Harry briefly wondered if Hagrid would be there. Harry liked Hagrid. He often had tea with him in his spare time. He had been very scared of him at first, but soon realised that Hagrid was very harmless.  
  
Harry began walking around when someone pulled on his sleeve.  
  
He turned around to see a boy who looked about his age, but was a bit taller and had red hair.  
  
"Hi, I'm Ron." The boy said.  
  
"I'm Harry." Harry replied, smiling at the boy, he never had met a boy his own age who knew magic.  
  
"RON!" shouted a voice from the other side of the room.  
  
"That's my mum... come on, you can meet Fred and George." And with that Ron started running.  
  
Harry ran after him, not liking the feeling in his chest as he did.  
  
"Fred! George!" Ron said excitedly.  
  
"Yes Ronniekins, what can we do for you?" One of the twins said.  
  
Ron ignored what they had called him and continued talking happily, obviously he too was excited about meeting someone his age who knew magic, either that or happy to be talking to someone who didn't have red hair.  
  
"Harry, this is Fred and George, two of my brothers. Fred, George, this is Harry." Ron said, introducing everyone.  
  
Before anyone could say anything a voice from behind them spoke.  
  
"There you are Ron, you had me worried there for a-" She stopped when she noticed Harry.  
  
"Oh mum, this is Harry." Ron said.  
  
"Hello Harry, who are you here with?" She asked, looking around to see if he seemed to be with a parent or someone.  
  
"Umm... I'm trying to get to Hogwarts." Harry said, hoping she could help him.  
  
"Hogwarts? Why do you want to go there?" Ron asked.  
  
"I live there..." Harry said  
  
Fred and George gasped.  
  
"Are you Harry Potter?" They said at the same time.  
  
Harry nodded.  
  
"Bill and Charlie told us about you, you live there with Snape."  
  
Harry nodded again. "I need to get back to him." Harry said looking back at Ron's mum.  
  
"Well why don't you come back to our house and I'll contact Dumbledore from there okay?" Ron's mum said.  
  
Harry nodded and Ron smiled.  
  
"What Quidditch team do you follow...?" Ron began excitedly.  
  
*************************************  
  
Harry loved the Weasleys home. Everything was everywhere. Nothing was normal. And he got along well with Ron and the rest of his brothers. He didn't actually see his sister.  
  
Ron's room was full of Quidditch posters and of people he had never heard of.  
  
The food they had was great. Harry hadn't eaten much when at the Dursleys, but Mrs Weasley served him enough food to probably fill three grown men. He looked over at the rest of the family to see that they were all digging in. he couldn't help but smile as he too started to eat dinner.  
  
***************************************  
  
Mrs Weasley had tried to get in contact with Dumbledore at Hogwarts but he wasn't there so she sent an owl, telling him that they had found Harry at Diagon Alley and that he was currently with them.  
  
It wasn't until late that night that Severus came in through the Weasleys fireplace which Mrs Weasley had left going just in case.  
  
Molly was packing up, just having put everybody to bed. Her husband was working late as usual. As she was just about to head up the stairs to go to bed she heard the fire blaze and then the sound of someone dusting themselves off.  
  
She went back into the living room to find Severus Snape dusting his robes off, trying to get some of the soot that was there off.  
  
"Professor Snape?" Molly said, making sure it was indeed him.  
  
"Mrs Weasley..." Severus said, looking up from where he was.  
  
"Professor, he's up here. Sweet little boy isn't he. Very polite. I think my boys could take a few lessons from him." She said, leading Severus up the stairs.  
  
"Is he hurt?" Severus asked, concerned.  
  
"Hurt?" Molly stopped dead in her tracks, turning back to face Severus.  
  
"Yes, hurt, injured, harmed, wound-" Severus started but Molly put her hand up indicating for him to shut up.  
  
"He didn't mention anything and I didn't notice him to be in any pain, but have a look for yourself." Then she continued walking up the stairs for another couple of steps and quietly opened up a door.  
  
She indicated for Severus to go first.  
  
Severus entered the room and saw two boys sleeping in there. He went over to the bed Harry was on and bent down in front of him.  
  
He thought about waking him up but then decided against it, deciding to wait until they were both back at Hogwarts. So he carefully picked Harry up, trying not to wake him up as he did.  
  
He walked out of the room and shut the door, not seeing Molly anywhere and headed back downstairs.  
  
Once down there he saw Molly by the fireplace.  
  
"Thankyou for taking care of him today." Severus said.  
  
"It was a pleasure, if ever you need someone to watch him, feel free to bring him around." Molly said  
  
Severus only nodded and then putting some powder into the fire he stepped in and yelled 'Hogwarts'.  
  
Once they were back in Severus' quarters, Severus took Harry back into his room.  
  
He sat Harry on his bed he knelled down in front of him and tried to wake him.  
  
"Harry... Harry..." Severus whispered, trying to wake him.  
  
Harry began to stir. He opened his eyes and someone placed his glasses on him.  
  
"Harry, are you okay?" Severus asked.  
  
Harry rubbed his eyes and then looked at Severus  
  
"Severus!" Harry whispered smiling, feeling too tired to put the effort in to hug him.  
  
"Are you okay Harry?" Severus asked again, worry in his voice.  
  
"Tired..." Harry said, closing his eyes again.  
  
"Harry!" Severus said, trying to keep Harry awake. "Did something happen at the Dursleys?"  
  
Harry opened his eyes and looked at Severus. He just nodded.  
  
"What Harry, what happened?" Severus asked, dread starting to fill him.  
  
Harry just shook his head. "I'm so tired..."  
  
"Harry!" Severus said warningly.  
  
Harry still didn't say anything, so Severus took his head, and checked it in the light. Seeing if there was any sign of it being hit or anything to suggest abuse. He couldn't see any marks so he took Harry's arm.  
  
Harry winced slightly as he took hold of it. He closed his eyes.  
  
Severus noticing his wince pulled the sleeve up, seeing bruises all over it. He lifted the other sleeve of his arm and saw the same thing.  
  
Severus shook his head at seeing the bruising, and then poked his chest. Harry bit his lip, trying not to cry out in pain and jerked away from Severus. He backed up until he was on the other side of the bed, leaning against the wall. He brought his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, letting his forehead lean in his knees, hiding his face and his tears.  
  
"I need to see what is wrong if I am going to help you Harry." Severus said soothingly  
  
"That man was there and he told my uncle." Harry said in a muffled voice, still not moving from where he was.  
  
"What man? What did he tell your uncle?" Severus asked, knowing Harry was trying to stop Severus from knowing where else he was hurt, but Severus was curious as to what Harry was talking about.  
  
"That man that was here before, that told me you were a Death Eater." Harry said, again not moving.  
  
"Lucius Malfoy?" Severus asked, shocked. "What did he tell your uncle?"  
  
"..."  
  
"Harry" Severus sounded desperate, hoping to get something out of Harry.  
  
"T-that there was a trial on at the moment and... and that he could go to jail. Why would he tell him that?" Harry asked, confused as to why he would do such a thing, finally looking up and at Severus.  
  
'Probably hoping that your uncle would kill you' Severus thought, but he of course didn't tell Harry that.  
  
"I'm not sure... Harry I need to see where else you're hurt." Severus replied. "I need to know if you need to go down to the Hospital Wing or not."  
  
Harry defiantly didn't want to go to the hospital wing. He had only been in it a few times but he already didn't like being there.  
  
"No, I don't want to go to the Hospital Wing..." Harry said desperately  
  
"How bout this then... If you show me where you are hurt and let me take a look, I promise not to take you down to the hospital wing. But if it is serious Harry, I might have to get Madam Pomfrey to come up here. Okay... deal?" Severus asked, watching as Harry thought about what he had said.  
  
Harry nodded and then took his shirt off, showing Severus his back and chest. All bruised.  
  
Severus couldn't believe that his uncle had done that to him. A child! It was outrageous.  
  
Severus checked to see if any of his bones were broken. Satisfied that there wasn't he helped Harry get changed into his pyjamas and put him to bed, giving him a few potions to ease the pain and bruises. 


	12. Moving On

THANKYOU to Ms Padfoot, Morgana, Carmie, Lei Dumbledore, Sinner's Angel, Barbara, Flamingo, Sakura Le, anna may, becky, Immortalis_Vespers, Old Fawkes, Creamy Mimi, angeL_1215 and luna699 for reviewing!   
  
Sorry I took a while to update!  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 12 - Moving On  
  
The last time Harry's uncle had laid a finger on him had been around one and a half years ago. Severus had gotten custody of Harry and Harry's uncle was handed over to the muggle police to be dealt with there.  
  
Lucius Malfoy was demoted from his position in the Ministry. Severus had fought for a tougher punishment but Lucius could be very cunning when he wanted to be and the fact that he had friends in high places had helped.  
  
Every once in a while Harry would go around and see Ron or Ron would come to Hogwarts and Harry would show him around. They were always writing letters to each other. Owl enjoyed the trip instead of having nothing to do.  
  
Harry had just turned 8 a week ago and was still marvelling at Severus' and Remus' gift for him. They had both put their money together to buy him two of the latest broomsticks. Both were a Cleansweep Seven. One was for him to use and one for if anything ever happened to the other one, or if Severus or whoever was over wanted to play with him. Harry thought that mostly Ron would use it.  
  
When he was at Hogwarts he now only did a bit of muggle school work set from Severus, since he knew how to read, write, maths and a lot of other things they taught him. He grasped them all really quickly. They didn't really know what else to teach him. Severus had once given him the world map and told him to learn every place on there. Harry of course couldn't remember them all but he remembered quite a few. After a talk with Dumbledore, Harry was aloud to sit in on some lessons if he had permission from both the professor that was teaching and Severus.  
  
Harry tried to sit in with every class that Hogwarts taught, he wanted to learn everything. Though after sitting in on one Divination class he never went back.  
  
Harry liked DADA the best, though Potions was the funniest. Harry found it amusing how scared everyone was of Severus.  
  
Severus would teach Harry Potions whenever he was either bored or Harry had nothing to do, which meant Harry knew the most about Potions. He often helped Severus make them, though Harry could never understand Severus' love for it. Harry could find it rather boring at times. He much preferred learning about different types of creatures and such.  
  
Harry spent a lot of his free time after classes in the library, being the only child in the castle had gotten very lonely for Harry, so he had taken to learning about everything.  
  
Harry was sad that he wasn't going to see Remus' much through the school year anymore. Professor Quirrell was coming back. He was only going to be gone a year but he ended up staying for 2years. But now he was back.  
  
Harry woke up early and quickly got changed and then headed off into the kitchen. Harry always made his own breakfast. It of course had to be done the muggle way since he couldn't do magic, but he had long ago given up waiting for Severus to wake up and magically do it for him, which meant that they had to buy some muggle things, like a toaster and such.  
  
Harry had awoken Severus up one to many times in the morning, causing a very grumpy screaming lecture from Severus, which would be enough for anyone not to ever wake him up again. He had apologised after when he wasn't so grumpy but Harry had not once waked him up without a very good reason after that.  
  
Harry was looking forward to today because Ron was coming over early morning sometime so they could play for the day, he was going back before dinner though. Harry had briefly seen him on his birthday but they had yet to play on the broomsticks. Harry couldn't wait. He hadn't gotten a good chance all week to do much on them since Severus would always be watching him, not letting him go too high or too fast, and after he would lock them away in a cupboard.  
  
Harry had specifically invited Ron over in the early morning because he knew Severus would still be asleep. And he was pretty sure he knew how to do the un-locking spell, so he should be able to un-lock the cupboard using Severus' wand.  
  
Then he and Ron would be able to have fun riding the Cleansweep Sevens and hopefully be able to put them back and re-lock the cupboard, and then place Severus' wand back without him even knowing anything had happened. Hopefully!  
  
Ron arrived shortly after Harry had finished breakfast, Harry had gotten the fireplace ready for him to arrive.  
  
Harry quietly snuck up to Severus' room, leaving Ron downstairs to wait. He walked silently over to where Severus' bed was. Harry knew Severus always kept his wand under his pillow that he was sleeping on.  
  
Slowly Harry moved his arm and squashed his hand in-between the matrass and the pillow, trying to keep his hand flat he began his search. He slowly tired to feel around for it without disturbing the pillow too much.  
  
He soon found it and he tried to pull it out without moving any of the part of the pillow where Severus' head was resting.  
  
Once he finally had it he let out a sigh of relief and quickly exited the room.  
  
He then made his way down to the cupboard and concentrated hard on opening it and then he said the words "Alohomora" which he had seen Severus and Professor Flitwick use often. He heard a click and saw that the cupboard had indeed opened.  
  
Ron was behind him looking at him in awe.  
  
"How'd you do that?" Ron asked, but was soon distracted by seeing the brooms to care about Harry's answer.  
  
"Wow! Look at em! Come on, let's get as much flying done before Snape wakes up!" Ron said, now looking excided at the thought of flying, and also scared at the thought of Snape waking up.  
  
Harry smiled and handed Ron a broom, then he took the remaining one and they both made their way outside.  
  
Harry had never had so much fun. He and Ron just flew around, Harry loved to dive, he almost gave Ron a heart attack with the first dive he did.  
  
After what only seemed like a short time they decided to take a break. But when they went back inside they realised that it had actually been quite a long time that they were out there.  
  
Harry quickly put both brooms away and locked the cupboard using the wand that they had left lying around.  
  
Harry quietly ran up the stairs and peeked through Severus' room to see him still asleep in his bed. Harry knew he would be waking up soon, but he didn't know if he should just sneak his wand back there later on and risk Severus noticing it was gone, or risk trying to put it back now.  
  
Harry quickly chose to put it back now, knowing that Severus always used his wand in the morning and would be sure to notice it was missing before Harry would have a chance to place it back.  
  
Harry quietly sneaked back over to Severus bed and peaked a look at him, his eyes were shut and he looked reasonably peaceful, indicating that he was asleep.  
  
Harry carefully started to slide the wand under Severus' pillow when a voice made him jump.  
  
"Harry, what are you doing with my wand?" Severus said, not having moved at all and his eyes still shut.  
  
"Severus, you're awake." Harry said nervously.  
  
"Yes, now what is your reason that explains why you have my wand in your hand?" Severus asked, finally opening his eyes and looking at Harry, but he remained lying down.  
  
"I was... Eh... cleaning it" Harry said, not being able to think of anything else on the spot.  
  
"I don't think cleaning it involves unlocking a cupboard and you and Mr. Weasley flying your broomsticks without permission or supervision." Severus replied dryly. He sat up on his bed, pulling the covers back.  
  
"Really... well I'll keep that mind." Harry said, and made to leave when he heard Severus' threatening voice speak again.  
  
"Harry, as soon as Ron leaves we are both going to have a talk." Severus said, indicating that Harry was in big trouble.  
  
Harry gulped and nodded.  
  
*****************************************  
  
Harry and Ron spent most of the day in Harry's room, avoiding Severus.  
  
When it came time for Ron to leave, he practically ran past Severus to get to the fireplace to go back home.  
  
As soon as he was gone Severus rounded on Harry, who was just sitting down in a chair waiting for Severus to lecture him.  
  
"You took my wand, and then used magic with it, which by the way could have easily backfired, and flying on your brooms without any supervision! You could have broken your necks! Molly entrusts me with Ron when he comes over, what would have happened if he had injured himself! You have broken so many rules that I don't think I can even trust you to be alone for 5 minutes anymore!" Severus said in a low threatening voice, slowly getting louder as he went.  
  
Harry looked down at his feet, feeling as though he had failed Severus.  
  
"I'm really sorry Severus..." Harry whispered, still not looking Severus in the eye.  
  
"SORRY! Oh you will be sorry when I'm through with you! You have got detention-" Severus started but was cut off by Harry.  
  
As soon as the word 'detention' was said had shot up from his chair and responded. "What? I'm not one of your students, you can't just give me detention."  
  
"I can and I will! You will be spending every night after dinner with me in my dungeon for four hours until the rest of the holidays are over! First you'll be cleaning and scrubbing it. We will go from there. Do I make myself clear Mr. Potter?" Severus looked livid.  
  
Harry was outraged. But he knew well enough to not talk back to him, it would only be worse. Harry just replied with "Yes Professor Snape." He got a glimpse of why everyone at Hogwarts didn't seem to like him.  
  
As Harry got into his room he heard Severus say one last thing, which Harry's only reply was to slam his door shut.  
  
Severus had said "You are not allowed to see Mr Weasley for the rest of the holidays either, so you can forget about asking to stay over his house to get out of this detention."  
  
Harry didn't come down for dinner, but spent the rest of the time pacing around his room. He had written to Ron telling him what happened. Severus hadn't said that he couldn't keep talking to Ron, he had just said he couldn't see Ron.  
  
*****************************************  
  
At 8 o'clock Harry made his way down to the dungeon. He was already feeling tired, Harry tended to go to sleep earlier and wake up earlier, though he still normally didn't go to bed at this time anyway, it was usually later, but with all the excitement of today, it had taken a bit out of him, plus he used magic which was a bit exhausting since he wasn't used to it.  
  
Once he was in the dungeon he saw Severus at a desk, writing something down. He spoke to Harry, but remained looking at the parchment in front of him.  
  
"You are to clean the storage room to your left, I want everything clean and in alphabetical order, you will find that all the ingredients are labelled, and there is some cleaning equipment already placed in their for you." Severus then continued to write, not looking at Harry once.  
  
Harry sighed and then set off to work. He walked into the storage room and shut the door and found a whole lot of cleaning products in the centre of the room.  
  
A moment later the door opened to reveal Severus, muttering "I want this door left open." before leaving again.  
  
********************************************  
  
All of Harry's arms were hurting from scrubbing the walls and ground and his back wasn't doing much better. It had been three hours and he had only just finished doing half of it. but he was determined to finish it all, even if it took him longer then four hours, he was not going to look like he couldn't handle something Severus gave to him, unfortunately Harry fell asleep 20minutes later, too exhausted to even open his eyes.  
  
********************************************  
  
Severus entered the storage rooms once Harry's four hours were up and shook his head at the boy. He was asleep on the floor curled up in a ball, a cloth still in his hand. Severus knew that he had probably been too hard on Harry with his punishment, but he had let himself go a bit over the top and he couldn't back out now. Plus Harry needed to learn his lesson, he had been far too lenient on Harry so far.  
  
Severus scooped down and picked Harry up. He weighed a lot more now then when he had been with the Dursleys, but Severus had the suspicion that the malnutrition he suffered there would cause him to never be his normal weight, at least not while he was a child or probably a teenager. He was still light and still small for his age. Severus still found it reasonably easy to carry him.  
  
He took one more look around at the half cleaned room. He was surprised Harry had gotten through that much, and then left.  
  
He put Harry to bed, changing him into pyjamas, and then went into his own bed and collapsed into it, he too was feeling exhausted, slowly he fell asleep, not bothering to change his clothes. 


	13. Punishments and Warnings

Thankyou to MerlinHalliwell, Jarvey, Morgana, Charley, Barbara and angeL_1215 for reviewing! Your reviews are really encouraging and I love to read them!  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 13 - Punishments and Warnings  
  
Harry awoke the next morning feeling every bone in his body ached. He looked at the clock next to his bed as saw that it was 8:30am. He had slept in. He slowly got up, even though most of his muscles were clearly against it.  
  
He found that he couldn't change his shirt. His arms simply would not lift above his head. So he headed down to the kitchen, just wearing some casual pants and his same pyjama shirt.  
  
He ate a couple of pieces of toast and then headed down to the dungeon, remembering that he hadn't finished cleaning it yet and set to work. He wanted to finish before Severus got up.  
  
***********************************************  
  
Harry was just putting the last potion bottle on the shelf when Severus entered the room, looking around in amazement at the now sparkling clean storage room.  
  
"I know that you asked for me to clean up your storage room and I didn't finish it because I fell asleep last night, I guess I was more tired then I thought, so I decided to finish it this morning." Harry said, looking around at the room, admiring his handy work. He was quite proud of finishing it.  
  
Severus smiled and indicated for him to follow him into the kitchen.  
  
"Now tell me Harry-" Severus began, as he began getting food out of cupboards, not looking directly at Harry. "-why are you still wearing your pyjama shirt? I don't think it was a great idea to go cleaning in it, though taking my wand, using magic and flying on your own wasn't a good idea either." Severus said, giving Harry a pointed stare.  
  
Harry turned red slightly. "I had a bit of a problem lifting my arms above my head."  
  
Severus raised an eyebrow at him, not understanding why he wouldn't be able to lift his arms above his head.  
  
"Hey! It's not easy to spend over 3 hours doing the same thing over and over, especially something you are not used to doing! It was just a bit of a shock for my muscles!" Harry said rubbing some of the muscles in his arms a bit as he said it.  
  
Severus walked out of the kitchen and came back a moment later with a potion. He gave it to Harry and told him to drink it.  
  
Harry did and although it looked like something vile, it didn't taste too bad, and afterwards he felt as though every muscle had relaxed. He felt a lot better.  
  
"Thanks" Harry said to Severus before heading up to his room to get changed.  
  
*************************************  
  
Harry spent the rest of his summer vacation mornings not doing much. He slept in longer then he normally did, and spent most of the day saving up his energy for what Severus would make him do that night. He made a point of making sure he always completed it, no matter how impossible it seemed. Though lately he had just been helping Severus make potions, he got the feeling that Severus had run out of punishments and that making potions was an easy way out.  
  
Harry was no longer mad at Severus for the very harsh punishment he had received, he knew that what he did was wrong, and he defiantly knew that he would never take Severus' wand again or ride his broom without asking first.  
  
Harry continued to owl Ron, knowing that there was still a week left of his punishment.  
  
That morning was different to the others because when Harry walked into the kitchen to get some toast someone was there sitting in one of the chairs.  
  
"Remus?" Harry asked, running over to the man and smiling at him.  
  
"Harry! You're up, I thought you would have been up earlier then this! Did you have a late night last night?" Remus asked, looking at Harry's face to see if he had bags under his eyes or not.  
  
"I've actually been sleeping in this late every morning, Severus' detentions seem to wear me out." Harry responded, going over to the counter to get some bread.  
  
"Detentions?" Remus' asked confused as to why Harry would be in trouble.  
  
"Yeah, a couple of weeks ago Ron came over, and we wanted to ride the brooms, so I sort of took Severus' wand, used magic to open the cupboard door, and then Ron and I rode around on them for a while without any supervision while Severus was still sleeping." Harry said, smiling guiltily at Remus.  
  
Remus laughed.  
  
"You truly are James' son Harry. So Severus gave you detention?" Remus asked.  
  
"Yep, I have detention with him four hours every night of the summer holidays, and I have been told I can't see Ron until after summer holidays are finished. As you can imagine I wasn't very happy with him." Harry said, shaking his head at the thought.  
  
Remus smiled "Well only one week left and then you can think of your next adventure to pull on Severus." Remus said smiling at the look of wonderment that went over Harry's face.  
  
"Don't even think about it Harry or your next punishment will make this one seem like a walk in the park." Severus growled, entering the kitchen. "And you-" he said pointing a finger in Remus' direction. "-don't encourage him."  
  
Remus smiled innocently at Severus, and then winked at Harry.  
  
After a moments silence Severus spoke again.  
  
"Now why are you here in my kitchen Lupin?" Severus asked as he magically made coffee appear in his mug, then he took a seat across from Remus.  
  
"I'm actually here to say goodbye." Remus replied, looking at Harry.  
  
"Goodbye?" Harry asked, immediately turning around from what he was doing to look at him.  
  
"Yeah, I'm leaving tonight to go visit some old family friends and I won't be back until after Christmas, possibly later then that." Remus said, looking sadly at Harry.  
  
"WHAT? Why?" Harry asked shocked.  
  
"Family business Harry, you don't need to concern yourself with it. I actually best be going now, I've still got a bit to pack before I leave, I just wanted to stop by and let you know in person." Remus said about to get up but stopped as Harry went over to him and gave him a big hug.  
  
"I'll miss you... I'll owl you all the time." Harry said sadly.  
  
"I'll miss you too Harry and you better owl me! I want to hear about every prank that you pull while I'm away! " Remus said, and then he pulled away from Harry and smiled at him.  
  
Remus then got up and was about to leave when he turned to Severus.  
  
"Make sure you take good care of him."  
  
Severus only nodded once at him, and then Remus was gone.  
  
Harry looked sadly at the spot Remus' had been standing only moments before and then turned back to his breakfast. A dark cloud hovering over him.  
  
***************************************  
  
The last week went quickly and soon Harry was getting ready leave to Hogwarts. He couldn't wait. This year they were only going to get there a day before everyone else, Harry didn't know why they were going back so late this year, Harry didn't know if it was because Severus wanted to make sure his punishment lasted longer, or if just because there was no reason to go earlier.  
  
Harry had only just begun to use the floo powder by himself. At Hogwarts, if you were to come from a ministry building, you went straight to Dumbledore's fireplace, but if you came from anywhere else that was set up with the Hogwarts floo system you could end up anywhere in the castle that had a fire going.  
  
Luckily they ended up in a classroom which had the fire going close to the Dungeons so they didn't have to walk far.  
  
The next night all the students were arriving so Severus mostly spent the day finishing last minute work or meeting with Dumbledore.  
  
Harry walked around the castle a bit but it wasn't the same without seeing all the students around. He finally made his way to his room and decided on an early night.  
  
*********************************************  
  
That morning Harry went outside to visit Hagrid. He wondered what animals he had seen while he was in the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid often told him stories of creatures he had seen in their.  
  
Once Harry was standing outside his hut he knocked loudly. After a moment of nothing he tried again, yelling Hagrid's name.  
  
Finally Harry concluded that Hagrid wasn't there and left.  
  
He decided to walk around the school, get re-acquainted with it.  
  
He just past the staff room when he heard someone yelling, he hesitated but finally entered to find Severus yelling at what must have been Professor Quirrell, they were the only two in there. As soon as they caught site of him Severus stopped.  
  
"Harry, what do you think you're doing in HERE? Go to your room!" Severus yelled at him.  
  
Harry was shocked. Severus hardly ever yelled at him for no reason.  
  
"But-" Harry started but was cut off.  
  
"NOW!" Severus bellowed.  
  
Harry quickly ran out of the room, not looking back.  
  
He however did not go back to his room, but to the Owlery, wanting to see his owl.  
  
Harry sat there with Owl, wondering what had gotten into Severus. Why was he yelling at Professor Quirrell? Not before long it was time for him to go to the Great Hall, to see the Sorting Ceremony.  
  
He didn't have to wear robes since he wasn't a student or a teacher, so he just went straight to the Great Hall.  
  
He hadn't seen Severus since that morning and upon entering he saw that he was one of the first there. There were only a few teachers there. Professor Sprout was talking to what must have been Professor Quirrell, Professor Flitwick was talking with Madam Hooch and Dumbledore was just sitting and smiling to himself.  
  
As soon as Harry entered Dumbledore ushered his over.  
  
Harry walked over smiling slightly.  
  
"Harry, how was your holiday?" Dumbledore asked, not having seen Harry all summer holiday except for his birthday.  
  
"Well except for the detentions it was good." Harry said smiling now at what he had done.  
  
"Ah yes, I heard about that." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled at Harry, though he tried to look disapproving at him.  
  
Harry smiled even wider but stopped at he felt a sharp pain in his head.  
  
"Are you okay Harry?" Dumbledore asked concern in his voice.  
  
"Yeah it's just a headache" Harry answered, closing his eyes and rubbing his head.  
  
"Perhaps you should see Poppy, I'm sure she has something that will help." Dumbledore said kindly.  
  
Harry was about to say no when the pain intensified a notch.  
  
"I think I'll do that, can you tell Severus where I've-" Harry started but stopped when he saw Dumbledore nodding that he would.  
  
"Thanks..." Harry said leaving, making his way down to the Hospital Wing.  
  
Once he reached the doors his head wasn't hurting as much as it had been but he decided that it was still enough to bother him. He touched his head, well his scar to feel something wet on his fingers, moving more into the light he saw that it was blood.  
  
How had that happened? He began to wonder but Madam Pomfrey's cry alerted him that she had seen him.  
  
She rushed over to him and gave him some potions, as well as cleaning up the blood, she then told him to lie down for a while, all the while asking him questions about what had happened, questions he of course didn't know the answers to.  
  
By the time she had finished healing him she told him to get some sleep. He didn't want to because he wanted to see the sorting but he guessed that it had probably already half over so he laid there and he soon fell asleep, wondering why his head had been bleeding.  
  
****************************************  
  
The next morning Harry awoke to movement around him.  
  
He squinted his eyes to see who it was but without his glasses he couldn't see well enough.  
  
He reached out for his glasses but the person beat him to it, placing them in his hand and then what sounded like sitting down, probably in the chair by his bed. He knew what the hospital wing looked like off by heart by now.  
  
He placed them on and saw Severus sitting there, looking intently at Harry.  
  
"Hows your head?" He asked, looking at Harry's scar.  
  
"Umm, fine..." Harry answered wearily. It was feeling a lot better but he was feeling uncomfortable under Severus' gaze.  
  
"Well Pomfrey says you can leave anytime now, so I would like you to accompany me to the Dungeons if you feel up to it. I would like to talk to you in private."  
  
Harry nodded and slowly got out of bed.  
  
After Harry got changed they made there way to the dungeons.  
  
Once in there Severus waved his wand and food appeared in front of them both.  
  
Harry smiled, only then realising how hungry he was and dug in.  
  
**********************************************  
  
Once he was finished he watched Severus for a while, and then asked the question he wanted to know.  
  
"Why were you yelling at Professor Quirrell before?"  
  
Severus looked a bit uncomfortable for a moment but then said something that Harry was not expecting.  
  
"I don't want you to go to any class without telling me, and I don't want you to go to any DADA classes anymore" Severus looked straight into Harry's eyes to prove that he was being serious.  
  
"WHAT!" Harry yelled, knowing that DADA was his favourite class.  
  
"You heard me Harry" Severus said sternly  
  
"Why?" Harry asked, sounding sad  
  
"Just trust me on this" Severus answered, and then got up and began to pace around the dungeon.  
  
Harry nodded, disappointment showing on his face  
  
"If you want to learn DADA I'm sure I can help you" Severus said reluctantly.  
  
Harry face brightened a bit more, which Severus took as a good thing.  
  
"And I don't want you to be left alone with Quirrell, no exceptions Harry." Severus said, stopping his pacing and staring intently at Harry.  
  
Harry looked at Severus suspiciously.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because I don't want you to, so promise me you won't be around him alone and you will always inform me of where you are." Severus advanced on Harry, but continued to stare into his eyes.  
  
Harry narrowed his eyes at Severus in confusion  
  
"O-okay" Harry replied, trying to think why Severus wouldn't want him around Professor Quirrell.  
  
"And if I find out that you have gone against this promise, there will be hell to pay."  
  
*****************************************  
  
While Severus was talking to his class which was first years, which Harry knew all they were about to learn, Harry tuned out, thinking about what Severus had said. He hadn't even spoken with Professor Quirrell before, surely he couldn't be that bad.  
  
After thinking it over for another few minutes, Harry got out some parchment and began to write a letter to Remus to see if he knew why Severus might be acting this way towards Professor Quirrell.  
  
Once he finished it he folded it up and placed it in his pocket, planning to go to the Owlery before the next lesson started.  
  
Harry watched the last bit of the lesson, smiling slightly at a student Severus was currently standing over, watching them like a hawk. They were visibly shaking. Harry felt sorry for the person. It was their first lesson ever at Hogwarts and they were probably already nervous, without Severus making them feel worse.  
  
Harry got up and walked up to Severus, told him that he was going to the Owlery now and that he would come back when he was done, hoping to take some of the attention off the student, which he did since Severus turned his attention to Harry.  
  
Severus looked sceptically at Harry for a moment before letting him go, knowing that Quirrell was in class and telling Harry to strictly go there and then straight back to the dungeons. 


	14. Memories

Thank you to athenakitty, Morgana, Barbara, Ms. Padfoot, ilo star, luna699, Melissa Lupin and angeL_1215 for reviewing! You guys are all really great!  
  
And a special thank you to Sinner's Angel, I really loved that review you gave. It was really helpful and encouraging. I read it a few times and I hope that you like this chapter. It's dedicated to you.  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 14 - Memories  
  
Harry went up to the Owlery and immediately spotted Owl. He walked over to her and attached the letter, telling her to deliver it to Remus, he gave her a pat and then he watched as she flew off.  
  
As Harry was heading back he felt a bit warm so he pulled his sleeves up. He could feel the bumps as he did on his arm, the scars that had been left from his time at the Dursleys. Harry could vaguely remember the few weeks after he got back from the last time he was at the Dursleys.  
  
Harry had tried to put it all behind him. It had been easier when Severus had taken him away the first time, when he was 5 years old. He didn't know any different, he was used to it. The thought that he could die during one of his uncle's beatings wasn't a very scary thought to Harry.  
  
But when Harry had something to loose, Severus, Dumbledore, Remus, Hogwarts, everything he had come to love, dying was a very scary thought. And for a moment, he was sure he would have died that night. He was so scared, and it took a while for Harry to heal from that, not only physically but mentally.  
  
Harry hadn't let anyone get close to him again, even Severus couldn't get past the wall Harry had put up, only when Harry found out that his uncle had been found guilty and charged had he finally let people past the wall he had up.  
  
********************************************  
  
~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~  
  
Harry sat in the living room on a couch. He was had his legs against his chest, his head leaning on the top his knees and he was just staring at nothing. None of the lights were on so he sat in the dark.  
  
He heard the portrait open and looked up to see a dark figure entering the room. He could tell it was Severus by the shape. After a moment he heard Severus mutter "Lumos" and the room was filled with light. It took Harry's eyes a moment to adjust.  
  
At first it didn't seem that Severus had even seen Harry but after a moment Severus' eyes landed on him.  
  
"Harry? Harry what are you still doing up?" Severus asked.  
  
When he didn't receive an answer, which was no surprise lately, Severus continued talking. "Come on Harry, let's put you to bed..." Severus grabbed Harry's hand and started to head towards the door but Harry wouldn't budge, pulling back at Severus' hand.  
  
"Harry, what's wrong?"  
  
Harry looked up at Severus, eyes searching, searching for a sign, tears were in his eyes but they had yet to fall.  
  
Severus looked confused for a moment before his eyes opened in shock, realizing why Harry was acting the way he was.  
  
"Oh Harry, everything went fine, I was given full custody of you, your uncle is going to be given to the muggle police. You won't ever be taken away from me again. I promise." Severus, while talking had knelled down in front of Harry, looking straight into Harry's tearful eyes.  
  
Harry looked straight back into Severus' eyes and could see the feeling and truth behind his words. He finally let a small smile onto his face, but no matter how small Severus took it as a step forward.  
  
"Come on, let's get you into bed."  
  
Harry agreed, only then realizing how tired he was. He let Severus pick him up and take him into his bedroom where he finally collapsed into bed, sleeping a lot more peacefully then he had in a long time.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~End of Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
*************************************  
  
From then on Harry had gotten progressively better, until he was finally back to normal. All Severus and everyone else could do was wait for Harry who had to do it in his own time.  
  
Harry shook his head at the thought, smiling lightly at the memory. He really was lucky to have Severus.  
  
He then noticed a scar that hadn't come from the Dursleys. He smiled remembering how he had gotten it.  
  
***************************************  
  
~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~  
  
7-year old Harry and Ron were outside by the Forbidden Forest, talking and laughing about how they had finally escaped Dumbledore. He was meant to be watching them but after 2 hours they had finally gotten away, Dumbledore was studying a piece of parchment and by the time he looked back up they were long gone.  
  
They were still talking about it when something caught their eye. They turned their heads to see the strangest animal trotting along the edge of the forest.  
  
They both looked at each other and without words they decided to go sneak up on it and get a better look.  
  
It looked like a unicorn, but something about it made it seem different, but neither Ron nor Harry could tell what it was.  
  
They tried to run up to it as silently as they could, and Ron managed to hide behind a bush near it without it knowing. But unfortunately Harry tripped on a root on the ground and wasn't quite as soundless as he would have liked.  
  
Alarmed the animal took off, with Ron hot on its tail, Harry bringing up the rear.  
  
After a small while both Harry and Ron gave up, then looking around they realized they were quite a way into the forest, without a clue which way would lead them back to Hogwarts.  
  
They didn't have a chance to panic or say anything as a deep growl sounded behind them.  
  
They both jumped and turned around to see an angry looking wolf eyeing them hungrily.  
  
Harry knew then they were in big trouble.  
  
After a moment the wolf jumped at Ron, obviously deciding on him first and Harry rushed to pull Ron out of the way without a second thought.  
  
While successful at getting Ron out the way, he did get one of the wolves nails in him arm, making a long scratch down his arm, immediately drawing blood, but Harry hardly noticed, he was quickly trying to think of a plan to get them out of the mess they had stepped into.  
  
They were both slowly backing away, the Wolf seemed even angrier now.  
  
They were both distracted by a yell from behind them.  
  
"HARRY! RON!" Remus yelled.  
  
He instantly ran in front of both Harry and Ron, and then it seemed to Harry that Remus and the wolf had a staring contest.  
  
For what seemed like hours they just stared, not moving a muscle.  
  
Then without warning the wolf yelped and ran off, leaving a relieved Harry, Ron and Remus behind.  
  
After another minute of staring, even though the wolf had left, no doubt making sure it had in fact gone, Remus turned around to make sure that both Ron and Harry were okay. They were both in shock, Harry being the worst off because he was bleeding.  
  
Remus examined Harry's arm and concluded that it was a deep cut but not deep enough to be too worried.  
  
He then began to lead them in the right direction and towards Hogwarts, Remus looking thoroughly exhausted, Harry and Ron not that much better.  
  
After a while of silence Harry finally voiced a thought he had.  
  
"How did you find us Remus?" Harry asked quietly.  
  
"I could smell you." Remus replied shortly, not going into anymore detail.  
  
Harry seemed to understand what he meant, though Ron looked completely lost, even bringing his shirt up to his nose and smelling it, though he did try to do it discreetly.  
  
"So... you're not angry?" Harry asked hopefully.  
  
"Why would I be angry?"  
  
"Umm... well Ron and I did leave without Albus knowing, and we did go into the Forbidden Forest, almost getting ourselves killed..." Harry explained, wondering why Remus wasn't already yelling at them both.  
  
"Well, I am disappointed in both of you, you both should be far more careful then what you were, but I can't really be angry at you, knowing that Severus is going to murder you as soon as he finds out..."  
  
Harry looked horrified at what Remus had said. He hadn't thought about what Severus would say! Suddenly being back there with that wolf was looking like a better idea.  
  
"What did you do to that wolf back there Mr. Lupin?" Ron asked.  
  
Remus sighed, he had lost count of how many times he had told Ron that it was okay to call him 'Remus' but Ron still every time called him 'Mr. Lupin'.  
  
"It's a wolf thing." Remus again answered shortly, again not going into great detail.  
  
"A wolf thing? But you're not a wolf? How does that work?" Ron asked.  
  
Before Remus could answer Ron interrupted him.  
  
"Bloody Hell! You are aren't you?" Ron almost yelled in shock.  
  
After a lot of explaining from both Harry and Remus, Ron calmed down. Though he seemed a bit nervous about Remus he didn't say anything.  
  
Soon they were back at Hogwarts, and luckily for Harry, Severus wasn't anywhere in sight.  
  
Madam Pomfrey gave them both Harry and Ron sleeping potions, though Harry was sure he didn't need one because he was already half asleep, he still didn't argue with her. She healed him up, leaving only a scar behind and in seconds he and Ron were fast asleep.  
  
~~~~~~~~~End of Flashback~~~~~~~~~~  
  
*********************************************  
  
Harry smiled when he thought of what happened when Severus had found out. He had yelled until he went blue. Ron's mum had screamed Ron deaf.  
  
Overall they had learned their lesson... well for a couple of months until they had their next adventure!  
  
And after another few visits Ron didn't even seem to care that Remus was a werewolf, though he did still refer to him as 'Mr. Lupin'.  
  
Harry looked at his watch and then immediately began running back down to the dungeon, he must have been walking slow as he hadn't gotten very far from the Owlery.  
  
He ended up just making it seconds before the end of lesson  
  
He settled back in for a whole day of potions, wincing slightly at the thought. He was defiantly sick of potions by now, his detentions had put him off the subject even more. He really needed a long break from it before he could get back into it again. Too bad Severus had to be the potions master, not only that but he actually liked to teach Harry it.  
  
************************************************  
  
Severus sighed when he saw Harry enter, he had begun to get a bit worried when he took longer then he had thought Harry would need.  
  
Severus knew that he had asked a lot of Harry today, especially without giving a reason but he truly didn't have one. Only that his instincts told him that something was defiantly amiss with Quirrell. And he had learned to always trust his instincts. Quirrell was acting a lot different then what he had been like before he left, and Severus was going to find out why.  
  
Severus could only hope that Harry stuck to his promise that he had made to him and didn't do anything stupid. He remembered talking to Dumbledore and Lupin after one of Harry's many foolish adventures.  
  
***************************************  
  
~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Why are you looking so down Severus? Harry is fine, everything worked out? What's wrong?" Dumbledore asked, slightly concerned by Severus' reaction.  
  
"I- I hadn't really let the idea sink in... But I guess I'm going to have to live with it now!" Severus sounded exasperated  
  
"What are you talking about dear boy?" Dumbledore was trying hard to follow what Severus was saying but he was at a loss  
  
"He's a Gryffindor! I wasn't expecting him to be in Slytherin or anything, but I had hoped Ravenclaw or even Hufflepuff! I am stuck with a Gryffindor! Do you have any idea what that is going to do to my image! Raising a bloody Gryffindor!" Severus sounded annoyed, but good heartedly.  
  
Dumbledore smiled at him and Remus chuckled, feeling pride for Harry.  
  
~~~~~~~~End of Flashback~~~~~~~~~~  
  
******************************************  
  
Yep, raising a future Gryffindor was defiantly stressful! Especially when that child is Harry bloody Potter! 


	15. Bad Dreams

Thankyou to Sinner's Angel, Ms. Padfoot, Barbara, noraseyes, luna699, angeL_1215, ilo star, JerseyGirl03, RaistlinofMetallica, Melissa Lupin, Moonlight, Morgana and Mikee for reviewing!  
  
*A short chapter I know! Sorry guys!*  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 15 - Bad Dreams  
  
At the start of the year Severus normally ended up locking himself in his rooms so he could grade papers. There was always a lot too do when everyone came back because everyone had their holiday homework to hand up, well except the 1st years. Severus was always stressed out, all the teachers were. It takes a bit to adjust back into your old routine.  
  
Harry knew that he was supposed to be in his room but he was so bored there. He had read every book there and he figured that Severus wouldn't mind too much if he were to go to the library and find a couple more to read.  
  
He was about to turn the corner when he heard two familiar voices talking. He froze.  
  
One half of him was screaming to get out of there, yet the other half was curious as too what they would be talking about. After a couple of minutes of inner debating, the curious side won and Harry slowly crept towards Severus and Dumbledore.  
  
He hid behind a statue that was close enough to hear what they were saying, but far enough away to run if he was spotted. He tried to stick to the shadows.  
  
He could see Severus leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest.  
  
Dumbledore stood opposite him and they were talking in low hushed voices.  
  
*****************************************  
  
"It's just with Lupin gone now, well I see Harry a lot more then before..." Severus said, and then quickly continuing before Dumbledore could reply. "Not that that is a bad thing of course... but I am not used to having so little free time. Normally Harry's time is split up between Lupin and I, along with seeing a couple of other professors. And in the holidays its different because I have really no work to do, so its okay... but I'm having to stay up a lot longer then I'm happy with just to set up for classes and grade papers. I'm always feeling exhausted and it's only the second week! What do you think I should do?"  
  
Dumbledore looked deeply at the man in front of him, he did look very tired.  
  
"I could look after him for a while each night, I would love too. Though I can't assure him that it will be that fun, I could give him some things to do to occupy him."  
  
"That would be great, I mean don't get me wrong I-I..." Severus seemed not to know the right words.  
  
"Love him?" Albus asked teasingly, a silly smile lighting up his face  
  
"Albus, your not helping" Severus said in a warning tone.  
  
"It's just that I have a lot of work to do and sometimes I don't know what to do with him. I don't like the thought of him wondering around by himself, and I don't trust any of the students to look after him, even those Weasleys, they all attract trouble."  
  
"I did say when I asked you to take in Harry that you would not be alone in this, and you aren't."  
  
"I would ask Ron to come over more often to keep Harry company, since Harry is so fond of him, but that would just be another person to look after, and they seem to find themselves in a lot of trouble when they are together."  
  
Dumbledore smiled  
  
"Well you can tell Harry to come to my office after dinner tomorrow."  
  
*****************************  
  
Harry could hear them starting to walk off in the other direction and didn't dare follow.  
  
He didn't know whether to be upset or what. Severus was trying to get rid of him.  
  
But Harry had noticed that Severus did seem a lot more tired and stressed out. Maybe this was for the best.  
  
Harry quickly headed back to his room, completely forgetting about going to the library.  
  
He made a promise to himself, not to put any extra stress onto Severus, no matter what.  
  
**************************************  
  
A week later Harry's promise was put to the test, he was sleeping restlessly, having a terrible nightmare. He could see his uncle hitting him repeatedly. He could vaguely remember it happening to him when he was 4 years old.  
  
Every time he saw his uncle's hand make contact with him Harry winced, remembering how much that had hurt. Tears were rolling down his face, wanting the dream or whatever it was to end.  
  
After seeing his uncle roughly shove him into the cupboard, signalling the end of the beating for that night, Harry awoke, sitting right up in his bed and breathing heavily. His sheets were all on the floor and he was soaked in sweat. His first instinct was to go to Severus, but a second thought stopped him. He couldn't put do that to Severus, he was already stressed enough, let alone dealing with Harry's problems as well.  
  
Harry kept telling himself 'It was just a dream' over and over again, trying to calm himself.  
  
After about 15 minutes Harry had calmed down enough to try to get back to sleep, but it never came.  
  
*****************************************  
  
Once Christmas time arrived Harry was glad to have a break from his school work. As much as he loved learning new things, he was having problems. Every other night he was having nightmares and always woke up in cold sweats. Most of them were about the Dursleys, he would remember a certain beating he got there, but some he couldn't seem to be able to remember. And he was always having headaches. But he so far had been able to keep it all from Severus. He had put enough problems onto him and he didn't want to add to the list.  
  
But he was happy to say that he had kept his promise to Severus so far. He hadn't been alone once with Professor Quirrell, though it had sometimes been hard, since he did a lot of work in the staff room. A few times he just ran out of the room he was in to avoid being alone with him.  
  
Severus had been helping him with DADA since Harry couldn't go to the lessons to learn. But he didn't get to work on it much since Severus didn't have a lot of time to keep teaching him it.  
  
Spending time with Dumbledore was a lot of fun for Harry, he was told stories not only about his parents, but also about Severus when he was growing up. And when Dumbledore was too busy to tell stories, Harry was free to explore his office, and Harry had been able to find a lot of interesting things that he had never seen before there.  
  
Harry still kept in good touch with Remus. Remus hadn't had a clue why Severus would be acting the way he was towards Professor Quirrell but he had said that when he came back he would ask Severus.  
  
But right now it was 3 o'clock in the morning and Harry was desperately trying to stay awake. He woke up a little while ago from a nightmare which he could vaguely remember happening to him, just another beating from his uncle. As bad as it was to live through it, it was just as bad to have to watch it all over again.  
  
But Harry knew he was losing the battle, his eyes were drooping and it was getting harder and harder to try and open them again.  
  
Soon he was in another fitful sleep. Dreaming of a past that he wished he could forget.  
  
*************************************  
  
Severus had noticed that something was off with Harry. He didn't seem to be as happy as he usually was. The smiles were getting few and far between, sleep was always under his eyes and he was always unusually quiet most of the time.  
  
It wasn't until Christmas Eve that Severus got his answer. He awoke to screaming, immediately thinking the worse, he ran into Harry's room, wand pointed out, ready to attack.  
  
What met his eyes was Harry thrashing on his bed, still asleep. His bed sheets all on the ground looking like they had been thrown off.  
  
Harry was screaming like he was in pain, lashing out. Sweat was all over his face.  
  
Severus ran over to Harry, shaking him and trying to wake him up from the nightmare he seemed to be having.  
  
*************************************  
  
2 hours earlier...  
  
Harry tried his nightly routine of trying to stay awake, knowing that it was only a matter of time before he fell asleep. He was getting used to seeing the beatings every night.  
  
Soon after, he hit his pillow, already asleep, little did he know that this night would be different from all his other dreams. 


	16. Missing!

Thankyou to Sinner's Angel, Morgana, Ms. Padfoot, angel, hi!, kitty, Melissa Lupin, luna699, Lei Dumbledore, RaistlinofMetallica, Jess S, selua, angeL_1215, Barbara and Mary Sue for reviewing! You guys are all really great! It's good to see new people reviewing and great to see people coming back and reviewing, I love to see that people are actually sticking with this fic!  
  
And thankyou Mary Sue for pointing that out, I have noticed that I have done that and I try to pick it out before I post but some still seem to get through! Sorry!  
  
And to the person named: hi! I have not read that fic you mentioned, but I love these types of fics so I'll go look for it and give it a read!  
  
And some of you may have noticed that I have posted another story simular to this (Thankyou for those who have already reviewed!) but like I said in that fic, this story is the main one that I am focusing on at the moment and I will more commonly update on this fic!  
  
*Also just so everyone is clear with this, this will not be a slash fic*  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 16 - Missing!  
  
~Dream~  
  
Harry looked around and saw that he was back at the Dursleys. No surprises there. He walked around, trying to find someone so he would be able to work out what age he would be in this dream. He had seen a lot of things that he couldn't remember happening. Abuse when he was a baby.  
  
Something didn't feel right to Harry, something felt... different.  
  
As Harry turned a corner to go into the kitchen he got his answer. He knocked into a wall, but instead of not feeling anything, he felt a pain shoot up his shoulder.  
  
Strange, he never felt anything in his dreams normally.  
  
He was drawn to a shout from behind him. It was his uncle, and he could see his own retreating figure, backing up until he hit the wall.  
  
Harry remembered this beating. It was hard to forget. It was one of the ones that had demanded that he go to hospital, his Aunt still had somewhat of a conscience then.  
  
He waited for the blow and when it came he cried out in shock. Why had he just felt that?  
  
Again his uncle hit him in the stomach and Harry found himself bending over, winded.  
  
What was happening? This never happened in any of his other dreams. Why was he feeling it now?  
  
Harry then began to panic, each blow that Harry saw happening to his younger self seemed to be amplified on him.  
  
He needed to wake up, and soon.  
  
*************************************  
  
After what felt like an eternity Harry felt himself waking up, but not because of anything he was doing, but because someone was shaking him.  
  
Harry gasped and bolted upright and saw a dark figure standing over him, their hands on his shoulders, Harry backed up to the other end of his bed immediately, bringing his legs up to his chest, feeling his heart racing a million miles an hour. His breathing coming in short gasps.  
  
He was in so much pain, everything hurt. Tears sprung to his eyes but he didn't let them fall as he stayed dead still watching the dark figure with fear, expecting to feel a blow any second.  
  
It never came. After a few silent moments a whisper could be heard and the lights in the room came on, revealing a terrified Harry and a worried Severus.  
  
"Harry... are you alright? What just happened there?" Severus asked, his eyes were slightly open more then normal. Probably his look of shock since most of the time his face looked like a blank wall.  
  
Harry knew he couldn't keep this a secret anymore, he needed help, and he needed Severus' help. So closing his eyes and taking a deep painful breath, he told Severus what he had been keeping from him since September.  
  
*********************************  
  
During that time Severus had sat down, head in his hands and trying to take in what this 8-year-old boy was and has been going through since September and actually keeping it a secret from everyone.  
  
Once Harry finished explaining about his dreams silence drowned the room.  
  
Finally Severus got up from his chair that he was currently sitting it and left the room.  
  
Severus was upset that Harry had to go through so much, he was angry that it was happening to Harry, an 8-year-old boy who was now living every terrible thing that was happened to him over and over again, and he was disappointed that Harry hadn't even told him about it.  
  
When Severus re-entered the room Harry hadn't moved an inch.  
  
Severus sighed quietly and moved over to Harry, sitting next to him on his bed.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?" Severus tried to sound neutral, but if you listened carefully enough you could also hear a bit of hurt in his voice.  
  
Harry just sniffed, new tears springing to his eyes.  
  
"I didn't want to put you under anymore pressure. I already take up enough of your time." Harry whispered.  
  
"What makes you say that?" Severus asked  
  
Harry not wanting to reveal that he had been eavesdropping on a private conversation just shrugged his shoulders.  
  
Severus sighed, putting his arm around Harry and watched as he leaned into him.  
  
They just sat there in complete silence, Harry slowly calming down.  
  
Once Severus felt that Harry was ready to go back to sleep he reached out and grabbed the potion from beside him.  
  
"Here, this will both help to heal you and give you a dreamless sleep, though you will probably sleep through most of Christmas day." Severus handed the potion to Harry who reluctantly took it. "And I must tell you that you will not be able to stay with Ron next week. You may have another dream and I want to be here if you do. Plus you kept this from me and everyone around you, what would have happened if I hadn't had heard you? Would you have just kept quiet about it and not said a word? I am very disappointed in you Harry." Severus looked at Harry, knowing Harry would be upset that he wouldn't be able to see Ron.  
  
Harry faintly nodded and then took the potion from Severus' hands. Gulping it down and then leaning back on Severus.  
  
Soon he fell asleep, though not Severus, he stayed up the whole night with Harry leaning on him, he sat just watching over Harry, making sure that he didn't in fact have another dream... or should he say nightmare.  
  
**********************************************  
  
The rest of the holidays and once they were back into school proceeded like that, Harry every night taking a potion to stop any dreams, still not being aloud to see Ron once.  
  
Harry had been spending more time with Severus again since he had found out about the dreams, but Severus didn't mind that much since Harry normally entertained himself, leaving Severus free to grade and sit in silence, something he had been able to do a lot of before Harry had come on the scene.  
  
*************************************************  
  
One night, a few weeks after the Christmas holidays had finished Harry was in Severus' office.  
  
"Harry, why don't you go get a book to read if you want to stay in here, I'm sure you have one in your room or the library that you could read." Severus said, knowing it was late but also knowing that Harry never seemed to be as fond of sleep as he once was, another thing taken away from him.  
  
Harry nodded and was about to leave when Severus called out to him.  
  
"I want you to come straight back, no dawdling!"  
  
Harry just nodded again and left.  
  
Severus, who still had a strange feeling about Quirrell had been unable to find anything strange about him, which had led Severus to becoming a bit easier on Harry, letting him walk around outside more alone and such.  
  
*********************************  
  
Harry was just outside the portrait hole to get into Severus' quarters when he saw a red headed person running for him.  
  
At first he thought it must be Bill or Charlie Weasley, since he knew they had red hair but as the person got closer he realised that it was not Charlie or Bill, but Ron.  
  
"Ron? What are you doing here?" Harry asked, completely ecstatic about his best friend being here.  
  
"I have the coolest thing to show you! Come on, follow me!" and with that said, he ran off in the direction he came from.  
  
Harry hesitated for a minute, before chasing back after Ron, forgetting about what Severus had said.  
  
They were running for a good 20 minutes before Harry had to stop to catch his breath. He was now completely lost, not recognising any of the corridors that Ron had been leading him down.  
  
Harry was bent over, hands on his knees and breathing hard.  
  
He never saw Ron come up behind him, never saw him pull out a wand and stun him. 


	17. Sticky Situations

I am amazed at the response that this chapter got! Thank you to enahma, Sinner's Angel, Ms. Padfoot, Lady Phoenix Gryffindor, Darcel, athenakitty, selua, Silver Angel, Teigra, RaistlinofMetallica, Alexial, Herogirl, Jess, Lei Dumbledore, Barbara, Them Girl, Lady Lightning, angeL_1215, Chaos Kid and kateydidnt! I don't think I have ever had so many reviews for one chapter!  
  
Okay and now to Sevter who reviewed chapters 1, 2 and 3. Thank you for expressing your opinions. I never wrote this fic expecting everyone would like it and its fine with me that you don't. I understand your opinions, and as to answer that question about why Snape brought Harry to Remus' house when he hates him, well the way I see it is that who else is Snape gonna trust Harry to? I mean yes there is Dumbledore, but you can't just Apparate into Hogwarts, and I believe (though there is a very high possibility that it is wrong) that you can not just floo into Hogwarts from anywhere; I believe that you will need a special floo connection... But who knows! Expect J. K. Rowling that is. Plus I wanted Remus to be introduced into that chapter. This fic is not perfect and I would be the first person to tell you that, there have been plenty of mistakes and I have no doubt that I will most likely make more along the way, but hopefully I will improve.  
  
Also Darcel, I intend to have a look at that link when I have a bit more time on my hands!  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 17 - Sticky Situations  
  
Harry woke up and saw that he wasn't in his bed. Where was he?  
  
Then he remembered Ron, they were running... and then he seemed to be at a loss for what happened after.  
  
He looked around for the first time since he had awoken at his surroundings. He seemed to be in a room that he had never been in before. So it couldn't be one of his dreams.  
  
Movement caught his eye and he turned to see Ron with a wand in his hand muttering spells at the door.  
  
How did Ron know how to use a wand?  
  
He was about to call him over when Ron turned away from what he was doing and smiled at Harry. Something seemed off about it.  
  
Then before his very own eyes Ron started to change.  
  
Harry was in shock, no longer did Ron stand there, but Professor Quirrell.  
  
Quirrell smirked at Harry's shock.  
  
"H-How-Wha-What?" Harry stuttered sounding like Quirrell himself.  
  
Quirrell scowled and spoke, but he spoke clearly and without stuttering once.  
  
"My master heard of you living at Hogwarts Potter, he wanted to...eh join me to see you. But you weren't around much at the Sorting. He wasn't satisfied. So I watched. I never could get very close to you, especially not with Snape always around you. You seemed happy with him so I was under strict instructions to make your life... a little less happy. I had heard what your muggle relatives had done to you... I thought it might be fun to let you remember some of the happy times you had there... by means of your dreams, where you could not escape."  
  
Harry looked horrified. This man had been the cause of all that. And what did he mean by master?  
  
"But then that still didn't seem enough, seeing them was not enough. So I tried something different, something to make you feel the pain... I've been meaning to ask how Christmas morning was..." Quirrell trailed off, a mad glint in his eyes.  
  
Harry glared at Quirrell, remembering the pain that one dream had caused, not only that, but that dream caused Severus to find out what Harry had been keeping from him, which lead to Harry not being able to see Ron... Ron!  
  
Harry started to look panicky.  
  
"How did you turn into Ron?" Harry asked, dread starting to fill him. What if he had done something to Ron?  
  
Quirrell looked startled for a moment at the sudden change in subject, but soon a wicked smile filled his face.  
  
"Your little red headed friend, I just used a potion... I believe he is around here somewhere... would you like to see him?" Quirrell smirked at Harry's horrified look.  
  
Harry quickly nodded.  
  
Quirrell turned around and muttered something that sounded foreign to Harry.  
  
The door closest to Harry flung open and Ron came floating in, he was tied up and looking very scared.  
  
He was then dropped next to Harry and Harry immediately began checking him to make sure he was okay and not hurt.  
  
"Ron, are you okay? Oh my God! You're bleeding." Harry said, indicating to a small cut on his leg that looked more like a paper cut then anything else, a few dried spots of blood surrounded it, but there was Harry, acting like Ron had seriously been injured and was about to drop dead on him.  
  
Ron looked like he was trying to talk but he couldn't.  
  
Harry looked confused, there was nothing covering his mouth.  
  
Then Quirrell waved his wand and Ron could suddenly talk again.  
  
"H-Harry?" Ron looked hopeful.  
  
Harry put on a small smile "Yeah Ron, it's me"  
  
************************************************  
  
"Professor?" The 6th year, Charlie Weasley nervously knocked on Severus' office.  
  
"Hmmm" was the only response they got. Severus didn't even look up from his work.  
  
"Is Harry here Professor?" Bill, the eldest Weasley son asked nervously, a slightly panicked look in his face.  
  
"No... Why do you ask?" Severus asked suspiciously, finally looking up from his work.  
  
"Oh, we have been looking for him and we can't find him sir, we guessed that he was most likely with you..." Charlie continued.  
  
"Why do you need to see Harry?"  
  
"Well... Mum owled us to say that Ron has gone missing. I was wondering if maybe Harry knew where he was..." Charlie again continued, looking distraught that his younger brother was missing.  
  
Severus' eyes widened a bit but that was the only indication that he gave that he had heard what they had said.  
  
"What do you mean missing? Since when?" Severus asked, trying not to look as panicky as he felt. He couldn't help but think that Harry was taking a long time getting that book.  
  
"Ron just disappeared, Mum went in to get him up this morning and he wasn't there. She and Dad looked everywhere. They're really worried." This time Bill was the one to continue. Though his voice didn't hide the panic he was feeling.  
  
"Come" Severus said, walking past them and out the door.  
  
**********************************************  
  
Severus went up to his quarters where Harry was meant to be but found that Harry was nowhere to be seen. He then proceeded to the Library and the Owlery. Not seeing any sight of Harry. Bill and Charlie were following him the whole time.  
  
He was starting to get worried. Harry had not once disobeyed him about where he was going throughout the year.  
  
They then spilt up. Looking everywhere and still not finding anything.  
  
It was strange that both Harry and Ron happened to go missing at the same time. Severus had said that Harry couldn't see Ron because of his dreams, perhaps they decided to meet up somewhere. It was the best that Severus could come up with, but it just didn't fit right in his stomach, something didn't feel right. He decided that he would go talk to Dumbledore. He would know what to do.  
  
********************************************************  
  
"Harry" Ron whispered.  
  
"Yeah" Harry answered, bringing his attention back to Ron.  
  
They were both currently tied up, but were still able to talk, not that they had said much out of fear that they would anger Quirrell further.  
  
"What is he doing?" Ron asked quietly, pointing to Quirrell who was currently bent over what looked like a long wooden stick, muttering words at it. Every once in a while a light would fly out of his wand and hit it.  
  
Harry shrugged, looking over at Quirrell.  
  
After another 20mins of the same thing Quirrell stopped and leaned against the wall, looking a hit exhausted. A small smile planted on his face.  
  
He then started muttering to himself.  
  
"Master...it is complete, the portkey is ready..."  
  
Quirrell continued but Harry wasn't paying attention, he knew what was going to happen. Severus and he had taken a portkey before. And he knew that he was doomed. Once he touched it there would be no way Severus would be able to find him or Ron. His thoughts were interrupted by Quirrell who began to talk again. He seemed want to vent out some anger.  
  
"You have no idea how many times I just wanted to go strangle you! But I never had the chance, Snape was always with you, the overprotective bastard. But I don't see him anywhere now.  
  
I now have my chance to make you feel pain as you have done to my master"  
  
Before Harry could react he was thrown against the wall behind him and something invisible seemed to cover his neck, pushing down on it.  
  
He couldn't breathe! Not only that, but his scar had begun to hurt, like a hammer hitting his head.  
  
Ron was screaming at Harry, trying to get lose of the rope that was still around him, but he was unable to get lose.  
  
After what seemed like ages but was probably only a few seconds Harry began to see black dots surrounding his vision, he could hear noises around him but he couldn't see anything.  
  
Soon all went black.  
  
*******************************************  
  
"Shhh, you'll wake him." Someone hissed, someone that was close by to Harry.  
  
Harry slowly opened his eyes to see everything blurry.  
  
Soon his glasses were placed on his head and Severus came into view. He looked around and also saw Ron, Dumbledore, Charlie, Bill and Remus.  
  
Harry tried to speak but found that he couldn't. He looked confusedly at Severus.  
  
Severus sighed but began to talk.  
  
"Harry you'll be able to talk fine in a few hours, your vocal chords are still healing. You should be let out of here in a day or so."  
  
Harry nodded and then looked towards Remus.  
  
"Harry, as soon as we realised you went missing we contacted a few people, Remus being one of them and he knew of an easy way to find you if you were in fact still in the castle. Once he came he went straight to Filch's office and took out a parchment. At first I thought he was crazy, muttering to it but then a map of the school was shown and we immediately saw you both here with Quirrell. And it looked like we just made it just in time. You almost died." Severus finished, looking worriedly at Harry.  
  
Before Harry could attempt to ask a question Dumbledore answered it, already knowing what the question would be.  
  
"Quirrell has been taken to Azkaban but we were unable to get hold of Voldemort." Dumbledore continued, noticing that Ron winced at the name, and the shocked face of Harry.  
  
"Yes Harry, Voldemort was there, but I will explain that later, I do believe that Severus wants to have a word with you.  
  
Harry's looked pleadingly at everyone, his eyes begging them not to go as one by one, they got up and left.  
  
Soon it was just Severus and Harry.  
  
Severus sat on the bed with Harry and just looked at him. Then he scooped Harry up and hugged him, muttering about how worried he was.  
  
Harry hugged him back, letting the relief of being safe wash over him.  
  
After a few minutes Severus pulled away and took Harry's chin in his hand and spoke looking directly in his eyes.  
  
"Now, are you sure you are okay?"  
  
Harry nodded, not being able to speak.  
  
Severus looked at him carefully and then finally let his chin go.  
  
Severus happy face was then replaced by a dark shadow.  
  
"You do realise that again you disobeyed a rule I had set for you, and in doing so nearly got yourself killed. And I do believe that I did say last time that if you disobeyed a rule again that your punishment would be far worse then your last one."  
  
Harry looked shocked.  
  
"That's right Harry, now... what to give as your punishment...I do believe that there is still four and a half months until the end of the school year... perhaps your punishment should be..." Severus was thinking hard about how to punish Harry, he couldn't just let him off, that wouldn't teach him anything and he never went back on his word... so how to punish him?  
  
"Your punishment Harry will be that you cannot attend any other classes for school except for one." Severus smiled at what class he was going make Harry go to, he thanked Merlin that Harry was unable to speak at the moment.  
  
"And that class is Divination" Severus smirked at Harry's obvious outrage.  
  
"And I don't want to hear another word on the matter, understood"  
  
Harry just glared at Severus.  
  
"I said understood, I could always make this apply for next years classes too if you would like"  
  
Harry immediately nodded his head saying he understood.  
  
Severus smiled and then got up, telling Harry to get some sleep.  
  
Slowly Harry felt himself falling back asleep, a peaceful sleep without having to take a potion for once, although he was dreading the thought of waking up, the sooner he woke up the sooner he would have to go to Divination classes.  
  
*****************************  
  
A few days later Harry was being let out of the hospital wing, everyone had class so he was on strict orders to this time go straight down to his room or else face even worse consequences then what he had only a few days ago been given.  
  
Just as he was about to walk out the front doors Remus walked through them, knocking Harry clear off his feet.  
  
But Harry barely hit the floor before Remus had him back on his feet again.  
  
"Remus? I thought you would have already left by now!" Harry exclaimed.  
  
Remus smiled "Yes well, I am about to leave but I thought I would stop by for one last visit... well until I see you next week." Remus explained.  
  
"Next week?" Harry asked, trying to remember if next week was significant for any reason.  
  
"Yes next week, Dumbledore wants me to come back and teach, and with that in mind I'm not sure if I should be giving this to you. The only reason that I gave in was because I know your father would kill me if I kept it from you."  
  
Remus then produced the Marauder's Map and gave it to Harry, explaining how to use it.  
  
Harry smiled. When he got his wand, he and Ron were going to have so much fun.  
  
"Thankyou Remus"  
  
Remus ruffled his hair and then turned to go, calling out over his shoulder  
  
"Try not to get into too much trouble Harry and I'll see you next week."  
  
Before Harry could reply he was gone.  
  
Harry then made the trek down to the Dungeons, occasionally looking in on classes through open doors.  
  
Once he was in his room he collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep again, and that was where Severus found him when he came in after classes had finished.  
  
********************************  
  
*Okay reviewers, now I need your opinions! What age do you want Harry to be in the next chapter? That is if you want me to skip any. Do you want me to just continue on and into the summer holidays with Severus? Or did you want to jump a year or two or more? Go straight to Harry's first year at Hogwarts?  
  
Please review and leave your opinions and I'll try my best to make what the majority wants happen!  
  
Thankyou!!  
  
And well done to all you that said the Polyjuice potion and the map! You guys were right! 


	18. Family

Thank you to athenakitty, RaistlinofMetallica, selua, Barbara, angeL_1215, Calani, Vita Brevis, Teigra, rofro05, Lady Lightning, eris wannabe, kiara Malfoy, soul, Vulcaine7, Lei Dumbledore, Lokia, tati, Samson and Rickman's Girl for reviewing and giving me ideas and your opinions on what age Harry should be.  
  
Now, overall more people asked for me to continue into the summer then anything but only just, as there were a lot of people wanting me to go straight to Harry's first year at Hogwarts. But since people wanted me to continue on into the summer holidays I have, realizing that if I went straight to Harry's first year those people would miss out, and if I went into the summer holidays, people wanting Harry's first year would only have to wait a bit longer.  
  
Now this chapter is mostly about Severus. I literally just woke up and thought of this idea. So I hope you all like it. Sorry it's a bit short!  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 18 - Family  
  
Harry had never been happier to see the summer holidays; he was hoping to get his sleeping pattern back to normal, and he was glad to finally be out of having to go to Divination lessons. All he would do is sleep through the day and be totally bored through the night.  
  
In the First week of the summer holidays late at night Harry was laying in bed, feeling all blocked up and hot.  
  
He decided to see if he could get some sleep, and if not he would go ask Severus to give him something.  
  
Severus was just finishing putting a few things away when the fire flared up and he heard someone stepping out. Wondering who it could be at the time of night that it was he went out to see.  
  
Who he saw, even though it was only his back, was enough to make his legs feel like jelly, instantly recognizing who it was.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Severus asked, trying to compose himself quickly.  
  
The man turned around to face Severus.  
  
After just staring at Severus for a while he finally spoke. "I came to see you. I can't even remember the last time we talked."  
  
"The last time we talked was before Mum died and she died in my third year at Hogwarts... The last time you actually properly looked at me was around the same time I believe." Severus growled, feeling anger towards the man, his father.  
  
Severus tried to take calming breaths; he would not give him the satisfaction of knowing that Severus was hurt in any way.  
  
"You mother died because of you"  
  
"She died of an incurable cancer that not only mystifies muggles, but also wizards. How is that my fault!"  
  
"You were there, you should have come and got me, I had a way to cure her!"  
  
"How? Buy using dark magic! Mum didn't want that, you know she didn't want that. She would have hated you if you used it, she told me not to get you. She told me to let her die!"  
  
It looked as though he was going to reply when he looked at something behind Severus.  
  
Severus followed his gaze to see Harry slowly and hesitantly making his way towards them.  
  
"Harry? What's wrong? I put you to bed ages ago."  
  
"I don't feel to well." Harry answered, looking very pale and sounding blocked up.  
  
Severus, noticing that he did look pale went over to him and felt his forehead. He had a fever.  
  
"Go on upstairs and get into bed, I'll be up in a second." Severus watched as he went back up the stairs.  
  
He glared at his father, telling him with his look to stay put and then he headed down to retrieve a few potions to give to Harry.  
  
After grabbing what he needed he walked up the stairs, telling his father not to touch anything.  
  
Once he entered Harry's room he saw that Harry was already in bed, sniffing and wiping his nose.  
  
Severus went over and sat next to Harry on his bed, again feeling his forehead.  
  
"Severus, who was that man downstairs?" Harry asked.  
  
Severus gave Harry a fever reducing potion and watched as he drank it.  
  
"That is my father Harry." Severus answered quietly, and before Harry could answer he handed him another potion to help get rid of his cold.  
  
"I never thought of you having parents. That's kind of dumb I Know, but I just can't picture you with any..." Harry said before drinking down the disgusting potion Severus had handed him.  
  
"Well I only have one if you can even call him one, my mother died when I was barely a teenager"  
  
"Were they like Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley?"  
  
Severus smiled at this "No, far from it."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
Severus sighed, not really wanting to go into it.  
  
"Well, before my mother died I guess you could say that we were like the Weasley family, but after my mother died... you might as well say my father died then too."  
  
Harry sill looked confused at that, but he could also see that Severus didn't look very comfortable talking about.  
  
Harry just nodded and closed his eyes.  
  
Severus put his hand through Harry's hair and then slowly got up and closed Harry's door, heading back down the stairs.  
  
He could see his father wondering around the room, looking closely at the very few photos he had around the place.  
  
Severus walked over to him and stood, waiting for him to notice that he was back.  
  
Once Severus' father did he pointed to a picture of him and Harry, one that Dumbledore had given him for Christmas one year when he found out that Severus had none of Harry.  
  
"I've heard about what's been happening...adopted yourself a son...though I have to wonder how can you even care about him, when you never even cared about your own mother's death!"  
  
Severus looked livid.  
  
"HOW DARE YOU! Of course I cared about her! I loved her! When she died I felt my whole life crumble before my eyes. And were you there to help me put it back together? Of course not, I was alone.  
  
I was only a child when I made all those decisions that would affect me for the rest of my life. You should have been there, but instead you shut me out and chose to believe I wasn't there at all, like I had died with my mother too!" Severus tried again to calm himself down. He hated how his father always seemed to get to him.  
  
"Look at you!" his father said, pointing a finger at his chest. "You didn't care about her. I have looked around here and am yet to find a single photo of her!"  
  
"AND DID YOU EVEN ALOW ME TO KEEP ONE!" Severus dropped trying to be calm, he didn't care anymore.  
  
"You seem to forget taking every photo I had of her away from me and putting them somewhere I could never find." Severus was fuming.  
  
"You murdered her, you didn't deserve to have anything of hers, and you didn't deserve to be allowed to even look at her." His father shot back  
  
Severus glared at him with so much hate that any normal person would have ran, screaming to get away.  
  
"How can you not even care? She's DEAD!" His father yelled  
  
"Of course I care, and let me remind you that it happened over 15years ago! I unlike you have moved on!"  
  
"My wife died that night!"  
  
"Your wife also happened to me my own MOTHER!"  
  
"How can you be so cold-hearted?" His father asked, shaking his head.  
  
"It must run in the family!" Severus glared at his father.  
  
His father lifted his hand as if to slap him but he didn't even get the chance to get near Severus' face before Severus had grabbed his arm, holding it so his father couldn't move it an inch.  
  
"I'm too old for you to do that now, and I would advise you to leave and never come back" Severus then threw his fathers arm back at him and continued to glare hatefully.  
  
"You are NOT my son, you have no family Severus" and with that his father stalked over to the fireplace, threw some powder in it and left.  
  
Severus watched as he went, and as soon as he was gone he sat down on the ground, feeling completely drained. He crossed his legs and put his hands over his face.  
  
He couldn't help but thinking that it was true, he did have no family, like always, he was alone.  
  
He looked back up when he heard feet shuffling in front of him.  
  
He saw Harry looking guiltily at him.  
  
"Harry?" Severus asked  
  
"I know you said that I shouldn't listen to other people's conversations, but I couldn't help it, you were both so loud."  
  
Severus nodded, realizing that they had both been really loud, and then realizing that that meant Harry had heard everything.  
  
Harry walked closer and sat in Severus lap, his back leaning against Severus' chest.  
  
"Harry you should go to bed"  
  
"Why did he say you have no family?" Harry asked, turning his head around and looking at Severus.  
  
"Because I don't" Severus answered softly.  
  
"But you do have a family" Harry asked confused by what Severus had just said.  
  
Severus looked strangely at Harry.  
  
"What-"  
  
"You have me" Harry answered  
  
He then turned back around and just leaned on Severus, closing his eyes.  
  
They sat in silence for a while until Severus finally broke it.  
  
"Thank you Harry."  
  
But Harry was already asleep.  
  
Severus smiled and picked Harry up, and carried him back up the stairs.  
  
Once he was in Harry's room he carefully laid Harry back down in his bed, tucking him in and bringing the sheets up to his chin.  
  
He felt Harry's forehead again to see that the fever had already began to go back down.  
  
Severus sat by Harry's bed thinking.  
  
He then knew why Dumbledore had really picked him to take care of Harry; he knew that Severus would need Harry in the end just as much as Harry had needed him. 


	19. Parents

Thank you to Ms. Padfoot, Calani, beyond infinity, athenakitty, Tomoyo Sakura, Rickman's Girl, Silver Angel, rofro05, Teigra, Lei Dumbledore, CrazycheeseCake, Lady Lightning, RavensHaelo, Ms. Issues, Lokia, angeL_1215, Them Girl, Kalina Quantum, Melissa Lupin, sev1970, Alexial, selua, Vulcaine7, Me, Kateri and Darcel for reviewing! You guys are so sweet!  
  
*I'll see what I can do with those requests, but no promises! A couple are in here that people have asked for... Hope you like!  
  
Also Calani, Harry's first year will come, so just bare with me okay!  
  
A Different life  
  
Chapter 19 - Parents  
  
Harry awoke the next morning to find that Severus was still asleep.  
  
He walked down the stars and into the kitchen, making some breakfast. Again he found himself wondering why they didn't have a house elf, he got along with quite a few of them at Hogwarts, but he had to admit that it was nice to just be able to do some things himself, and be alone, just Severus and himself.  
  
As soon as he sat down in what he now called his chair since he used the same one every time, the fire blazed and someone stepped out.  
  
Harry was about to get up to see who it was when Dumbledore walked into the kitchen.  
  
"Good morning Harry!" He said cheerfully.  
  
"Morning Albus"  
  
"And how are your holidays going?"  
  
"Umm... well it's only been a week, but I guess so far it's been okay. I was sick last night but Severus gave me a potion."  
  
"Ah did he, and where is Severus now?"  
  
"Still asleep, I can go wake him if you would like?" Harry said, getting up.  
  
"No, don't worry. I will wait. Do you mind if I sit-"  
  
"Oh yes, yes, go ahead!"  
  
Dumbledore smiled and sat down.  
  
"You could be waiting a while; he had a late night last night."  
  
"Oh did he, making a potion I presume." Dumbledore said, taking a piece of toast that Harry offered him and taking a bite.  
  
"Oh no, his dad came by and they got into a fight."  
  
"His father was here?" Dumbledore now looked very interested.  
  
Harry nodded, taking a bite into his toast.  
  
"What were they fighting about?"  
  
"Umm... his mum, he was saying that Severus had killed her."  
  
Dumbledore looked angry at that.  
  
"Then after a while Severus kicked him out and he said that Severus wasn't his son and that he had no family, which isn't true."  
  
"Of course it isn't." Dumbledore was getting angrier.  
  
"I don't understand, why did he say that Severus killed his mum?"  
  
"Don't you worry Harry, Severus did no such thing. His mother died of natural causes."  
  
Harry nodded.  
  
"Well it looks like you probably got as much sleep as Severus did last night if you heard the whole argument."  
  
"Well I woke up later on, well really early morning and he was still awake, he was still in my room."  
  
Dumbledore seemed to think about that for a moment.  
  
"How would you like to spend some time with Remus today?"  
  
"I would love to!" Harry's face brightened.  
  
"I'll go ask him, you stay here for a moment okay Harry?"  
  
Harry nodded and Dumbledore left, only to be back a few minutes later to tell Harry that Remus was waiting for him.  
  
Harry ran over to the fireplace and was about to go in when a thought hit him.  
  
"What about Severus?" Harry asked Dumbledore who was now standing next to him.  
  
"I'll tell him where you have gone, he will be over to pick you up after dinner tonight."  
  
Harry nodded and threw some Floo powder into the fire.  
  
"Have fun Harry" was the last thing he heard before he was whisked away to Remus' living room, where he was waiting for him.  
  
"Harry, how are you?" Remus asked politely, grabbing a coat.  
  
"I'm fine, are you going somewhere?" Harry had thought that he would be spending time with Remus, not just staying out his house while he was out.  
  
"No, we are going somewhere." Remus answered  
  
Harry's eyes lit up.  
  
"Where?"  
  
"Diagon Alley."  
  
Harry smiled, he hardly ever got to go there.  
  
**********************************************  
  
Severus stumbled into the kitchen late morning, almost afternoon,  
  
"So you decided to wake up!" said the amused voice of Albus Dumbledore.  
  
Severus jumped, obviously not expecting anyone there except Harry.  
  
"Albus, what are you doing here?"  
  
"I was going to have a chat with you about a potion I was hoping you could brew for me. I heard about what happened last night, how are you going?."  
  
Severus sighed, hoping to just forget about that. "Where is Harry?" Severus asked knowing that it was Harry who would have told him.  
  
"I sent him to Remus', you are to pick him up from there tonight. Now don't avoid the question."  
  
"I'm fine Albus, really I am. I admit that it was a bit of a shock that he showed up, but it was going to happen sooner or later. At least now it's out of the way." Severus finished, sitting down next to Dumbledore.  
  
"Severus, if you want to talk about it, I'm always here"  
  
"I know, and thank you for being there, but there is nothing to discuss on the matter."  
  
They were both silent for a few minutes, not really knowing what to say.  
  
"Now what was this potion you wanted?" Severus finally asked, getting up and making himself some breakfast.  
  
Before Dumbledore could answer he asked him another question.  
  
"Did you want some breakfast?"  
  
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.  
  
"No, but I wouldn't mind some lunch."  
  
Severus half glared at Dumbledore.  
  
Dumbledore laughed.  
  
"Now this potion..."  
  
************************************  
  
When Harry and Remus arrived in Diagon Alley they spotted Ron and Arthur Weasley.  
  
"Hey Ron! What are you doing here?" Harry asked, happy to see his best friend.  
  
"I'm getting a pet owl!" Ron said excitedly.  
  
"Really!" Harry gasped.  
  
"Yep, Scabbers died so Dad said I could get my very own owl!" Ron seemed happy and sad at the same time.  
  
"Oh Ron, I'm really sorry!" Harry said  
  
"It wasn't your fault!"  
  
"How did it happen?" Remus asked.  
  
"Dad got a muggle car and he was trying it out, he didn't realise that Scabbers was around, he got run over!" Ron answered, looking upset.  
  
Arthur put his hand on Ron's shoulder looking very sorry.  
  
They all entered the same shop where Harry had gotten his owl.  
  
Ron looked around at them all and his eyes lit up upon seeing a small brown owl. Ron ran over to it and pattered it through the cage that it was in.  
  
"I want this one dad! Please!" Ron put on his best puppy eyes on.  
  
Arthur Weasley smiled at Ron.  
  
"Cause you can Ron! It looks very nice"  
  
"Thank you, thank you thank you!" Ron said while hugging him tightly  
  
Arthur laughed  
  
"Quite alright Ron, why don't you wait here with Harry and Remus while I go purchase him."  
  
Ron eagerly nodded.  
  
Once his dad was at the counter Ron turned to Harry  
  
"Isn't my dad the greatest! My own owl! Even Fred and George don't have their own owl"  
  
Harry smiled at Ron, happy for him.  
  
A moment later Arthur returned.  
  
"There you go Ron" Arthur said, giving Ron the newly purchased cage with his owl inside.  
  
"Thankyou so much dad!" Ron exclaimed  
  
"What are you going to name him?" Arthur asked  
  
"I don't know, I'll have to think about it"  
  
"Well don't forget, the name 'Owl' is taken!" Remus said jokingly  
  
But Ron seemed to take it seriously.  
  
"Yes, yes, of course. what do you think Harry?"  
  
"It's your owl Ron, I'm sure you will think of a great name for him!"  
  
Ron smiled  
  
"Thanks Harry!"  
  
************************************************  
  
Remus and Harry left Ron and his father and looked around at all the shops. They spent the most time in the Quidditch store of course.  
  
After two hours Remus was able to drag Harry out of there and they sat down and had lunch.  
  
Half way through Harry decided to ask a question that he had wanted to ask since they had got there.  
  
"Remus, are your parents alive?"  
  
Remus seemed shocked by the question, especially since it was out of the blue.  
  
"Umm...yes, yes they are. Why do you ask?"  
  
"I never see you with them or heard you talk of them..."  
  
"Well I don't see them very much anymore."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"We just sort of... lost touch I guess." Remus shrugged  
  
"How did you lose touch?"  
  
"Just didn't really bother to keep seeing them or writing them. They live in France now I believe."  
  
"But they are alive?"  
  
"Yes..." Remus answered slowly  
  
"But you don't see them..."  
  
"Yes..." Remus again answered slowly.  
  
Harry looked a bit confused but didn't say anything else on the matter.  
  
Remus realised how selfish it was to say that he had just not bothered to keep in-touch with his parents, when Harry had had his parents taken away from him.  
  
"But do you know what, I think I might owl them later tonight, see how they are going."  
  
Harry smiled at Remus.  
  
After they had finished lunch Remus asked what Harry wanted to do.  
  
"I can do anything I want?" Harry asked  
  
"Anything at all Harry!"  
  
"You promise!" Harry narrowed his eyes at Remus.  
  
"As long as it is not dangerous, then yes, I promise."  
  
"Alright then... can we go back into the Quidditch store?"  
  
Harry smiled, knowing Remus wouldn't be able to get out of this one.  
  
Remus looked like he was about to say something a few times but each time he shut his mouth. He couldn't believe an 8-year-old had just done that.  
  
"Oh all right!"  
  
Harry laughed as he ran back into the store, Remus trailing him, shaking his head.  
  
***********************************  
  
Late that night Severus stepped out of the fireplace and saw Harry and Remus both fast asleep on the couch.  
  
He shook his head at Remus, who had only spent one full day with Harry and was already asleep at 8:30.  
  
Severus quietly walked over to them and flicked Remus hard on the nose. He immediately awoke.  
  
"Hey! What was that for?" Remus said quietly, seeing that Harry was still asleep.  
  
"What was what for Lupin?" Severus asked, trying to look completely innocent.  
  
"Honestly, I sometimes think Harry is more mature then you" Remus muttered as he stood, stretching.  
  
Severus just rolled his eyes.  
  
"Are you here to take Harry?"  
  
"Yes, were there any problems today?"  
  
"None at all, we saw Ron and Arthur at Diagon Alley, so we spent some time with them... he is allowed to see Ron isn't he?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Severus asked  
  
"Well every time Harry does anything wrong you seem to ban him from seeing Ron..."  
  
"I do not!" Severus glared at Remus, and seeing him about to respond to that he kept going. "Now if you don't mind, I think I'll be taking Harry and leaving!"  
  
Severus went over to Harry's still sleeping form and gently picked him up.  
  
"Oh and there was one other thing." Remus said  
  
Severus stopped and turned around to face Remus.  
  
"You should watch out, he's more obsessed with Quidditch then James was, and that is saying something!"  
  
Severus smiled at Harry's sleeping form and went over to the fireplace and without saying another word to Remus, he left.  
  
Once they were back at Snape Manor he carried Harry up to his room and carefully put him into bed, muttering a spell to change his clothes to his pyjamas.  
  
Severus tucked him in and turned around to go.  
  
"Night Dad..." Harry said, smiling as Severus quickly turned around and stared at Harry in shock.  
  
"What-"  
  
"I just wanted to see what that would feel like..." Harry answered his question before he could ask it, slowly drifting off into a deep sleep.  
  
Severus smiled at him, watching until he was finally asleep. He then crept over to him and kissed Harry's forehead.  
  
Just before he left he whispered "Night son..." 


	20. The Park

Thank you to CrazycheeseCake, Calani, Rickman's Girl, Melissa Lupin, Ms. Padfoot, kateydidnt, sev1970, Silver Angel, Me, Lokia, Herogirl, eh?, Lady Lightning, ROGUE-sorceress, trekkie87820, Immortal Rose, Ms. Issues, chips challenge, Kateri, RaistlinofMetallica, Nagini, Teigra, ShanniC, luna699, Rix, angeL_1215, Phoenix Angel, Darcel, darby, selua, Kalih, Barbara, Myst4Drgn, Lei Dumbledore, Bonnie, Kyra, soul, Cresha Potter, sarou, Them Girl, blackunicorn, Zaeria and Jarvey for reviewing!   
  
Also thank you to kateydidnt for pointing that out, but for this fic I'm just going to say that Scabbers was Ron's! It works better for me!  
  
As you can imagine I was quite shocked when I got over 100 reviews, then I saw that someone had posted over 60 'aw' reviews! So umm... thank you to that person but maybe not quite so many next time, one will be enough thanks! Haha  
  
All I have to say about this chapter is... I am so cruel...  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 20 - The Park  
  
Harry and Severus were sitting down getting breakfast about five days after Harry had called Severus 'dad'. It was not something that they had repeated to each other or anyone else, but it was a moment that they both held in their hearts.  
  
Harry sat thoughtfully in his chair for a few minutes before breaking the silence that had erupted between them.  
  
"Severus..."  
  
"Yes Harry" Severus answered, not looking up from reading The Daily Prophet.  
  
"I'm..." Harry trailed off.  
  
"Yes?" Severus asked, finally looking up from what he was reading.  
  
"I'm bored" Harry finally said  
  
Severus raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Seriously, it's gotten to the point where I'm considering doing something wrong just so you will give me a punishment and therefore I will have something to do."  
  
Severus frowned  
  
"Well what do you want to do? I guess you could see Ron-"  
  
"Severus, I want to do something with you!"  
  
Severus looked confused  
  
"Me?"  
  
"Yes you! Can you tell me the last time that we actually did something out of the house? It's either work or maybe just talking. But we never really do anything together."  
  
Severus narrowed his eyes in thought. He supposed it was true. Nothing he and Harry did had come to mind, well not anything that involved going outside.  
  
"What did you have in mind?"  
  
"Let's go out somewhere? Please! It's a nice day, let's go to the park!" Harry put his puppy eyes to work.  
  
"I'm not aware of any parks around here" Severus answered, aware of what Harry was trying to do.  
  
Harry thought about that for a bit.  
  
"Well I know a park, Dudley used to love it, he always got to go. The only reason I know of it is because once Mrs. Figg couldn't look after me and so they had to take me."  
  
Anger flashed in Severus' eyes but he said nothing.  
  
"Do you happen to know where this park is?"  
  
"Well..." Harry thought for a moment, he was trying to remember something that happened quite a few years ago.  
  
"It was only a few streets away from the Dursleys, so I guess if we look around there then we will be able to find it."  
  
Severus nodded  
  
"Okay, go grab your coat."  
  
Harry smiled and ran upstairs.  
  
Severus watched him go. He was fully intent on saying no to Harry, not really being the outdoor person, but when he heard about Harry not being allowed to go when he was with the Dursleys he decided then that he would. Besides, it would be good to get out a bit with Harry, spend some time together, especially after what had happened the week before with his father.  
  
So after Harry finally got his coat and found some suitable shoes, they left, by flooing to Diagon Alley, and leaving that way.  
  
**********************************  
  
They easily found the park without having to see the Dursleys house and Severus had to admit that it did look nice. It was very green and very well gardened. There was also a playground, which Harry immediately ran over to. Severus just walked around a bit, admiring the work and smelling the fresh air.  
  
He sat on a bench, watching as Harry was having fun on the playground, surrounded by other kids.  
  
The time flew for both Harry and Severus, but either seemed to notice too much. Severus was enjoying breathing in the fresh air and seeing new surroundings, occasionally watching Harry.  
  
Harry had sat with him for a while, but was now back out playing. Soon a woman sat next to him, he thought she looked vaguely familiar, like he had seen her before. But he shook the thought away, she was obviously a muggle and he was very sure he didn't know any.  
  
************************************  
  
Harry was just about to go in the jungle gym when he heard someone call his name out. He knew it wasn't Severus and was surprised that someone else there knew his name.  
  
He turned around and right in front of him was Dudley.  
  
He took a sharp intake of breath as a flood of memories came rushing back, but he quickly pushed them all back.  
  
It seemed too that Dudley was pushing back memories of him own, probably things that he had seen his father do to Harry.  
  
"Hi Harry... How are you?" Dudley asked awkwardly.  
  
"D-Dudley..." Harry was feeling slightly nervous, he hadn't ever seen Dudley act like this, he seemed quiet and very nervous. Nothing like what he used to be,  
  
"I'm okay... umm you?" Harry asked, not really sure what to say.  
  
"Alright I guess... It's different without you home, and without dad."  
  
Harry winced at the thought of his uncle.  
  
"Oh, S-sorry Harry"  
  
Harry was shocked, was this really Dudley Dursley? Definitely not the one that he knew. He could see differences just in the way he was acting. He was quieter, less confident, and seemed almost shy talking to Harry. The absence of his father had certainly changed him.  
  
Harry shook his thoughts away and forced a smile for Dudley's sake, if not his own.  
  
"Don't worry about it."  
  
"I'm really sorry about what my father did to-"  
  
"Don't worry about it Dudley, it wasn't your fault."  
  
"Well I'm sorry about what I did to you Harry, I never helped you at all with your chores, and I even pushed you around. I was just a spoiled brat."  
  
Harry was even more shocked. At that moment he was sure that this was not Dudley Dursley standing in front of him.  
  
"I mean I never really thought about what it was like for you, and now that you're gone, and dad... well I have to do a lot more around the house to help out, especially now cause mum has to go out and work. I just don't know how you did it all"  
  
Harry nodded his head.  
  
"You must hate me"  
  
"I don't hate you Dudley; it really wasn't your fault. I never blamed you."  
  
It seemed that Dudley had had something lifted off his shoulders, like he had been carrying around this guilt for a while. Harry guessed that Dudley really hadn't known that what his father was doing was wrong at the time.  
  
It looked as though Dudley was going to say something else when Harry heard his aunt's voice. He hadn't even noticed her coming.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
"Hello Aunt Petunia" Harry said quietly, getting nervous at seeing the anger written all over her face.  
  
"How dare you! How dare you disrupt my Dudley from playing! My husband gets locked up all because a freak like you couldn't abide by a few rules and handle a few small punishments. And now you see fit to corrupt my Dudleykins!"  
  
"Mum!" Dudley exclaimed.  
  
Harry winced and was about to reply when a hand from behind him landed on his shoulder.  
  
"Is there a problem here?" Severus growled from behind Harry  
  
***  
  
Severus has been closing his eyes, just dozing off when he felt the woman next to him move, he opened his eyes to see that she had gotten up and was heading over to Harry. It was then that he realized that Harry was with someone. And that person he did recognize. It was the whale of a boy that he had seen when he was looking for Harry all those years ago, although he did look older now and he had definitely lost a fair bit of weight. It was then that he finally caught on to who the woman he had been sitting next to was. It was Harry's aunt, and she was almost where Harry and his cousin were. Cursing under his breath, he quickly made his way over to them, hoping that the woman and her son would not cause any problems. Harry had had enough trouble from that family. He didn't need any more to add to the list.  
  
When he got there he didn't hear what she had said to Harry but he could tell it wasn't anything nice.  
  
***  
  
Petunia glared at Severus, one that could very well match his own.  
  
Harry stepped back from it, but only ended up walking into Severus.  
  
She then glared at Harry, who immediately stopped moving altogether.  
  
"Come along Dudley, we are going home."  
  
Dudley looked like he was going to argue but he stopped himself.  
  
After a few steps Dudley turned back around and faced Harry.  
  
"Hey, maybe when this is all over, and my mum gets over all this, perhaps we could hang out?" Dudley sounded almost hopeful.  
  
Harry smiled.  
  
"That would be great."  
  
Dudley smiled back and then let Petunia drag him off and towards the car.  
  
"Are you okay Harry?" Severus asked, concerned.  
  
"I'm better then okay"  
  
Harry was happy; he actually had a family member who wanted to know him. He knew that Severus was his family and all, but what Harry was talking about was a blood relative. Even if his aunt hated him, all that mattered to Harry was that his cousin didn't.  
  
Harry couldn't ignore a warm feeling come over him.  
  
He stood watching as Dudley was led away by his aunt, who obviously wasn't happy that he had been talking to him, he watched as they got into a car, he watched as they drove onto the traffic lanes, driving back to their home, back to Harry's hell.  
  
And he watched in horror as another car dangerously swerved and hit them, pushing them into another car.  
  
He watched as at least 6 cars were hauled into the wreckage, killing all instantly. 


	21. Grief

Thank you to Lady Lightning, Rickman's Girl, Kemenran, Melissa Lupin, Kyra, star-gurl, CrazycheeseCake, Them Girl, Ms. Padfoot, Lokia, AtheneLupin, Nagini, Sylvester, Immortalis_Vespers, keizinathebrat, Kateri, Lei Dumbledore, Err, Jay, reader, athenakitty, blah, takari4ever7, Mikee, selua, angeL_1215, WolfMoon, Ms. Issues, Vulcaine7, Rhysel Ash, sev1970, Barbara, beefywpac, Selina, Iniysa, Me and luna699 for reviewing!   
  
I thought about it, I really did but I just couldn't let Dudley live. I never had planned for him to survive and I was surprised by how many people asked for it. I know I don't really like him, I have no idea where Dudley being nice came from in the last chapter... But sorry to you all who wanted him to survive.  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 21 - Grief  
  
Harry couldn't stop the agonized yell from exiting his mouth. Not that anyone heard it. People all around were screaming and crying over what they were seeing. The cars were all completely wreaked. People were already running over to them, trying to find any survivors.  
  
For Harry, time seemed to slow down, everything went in slow motion. Sound seemed to have been muted. It had slowly been getting quieter until suddenly it was silent. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the wreckage.  
  
Harry started finding it hard to breathe. He was taking sharp gasps in but was unable to exhale. Panic started to override him, he couldn't breathe, and he then started seeing black dots in front of his eyes. And just when he thought he was going to black out the sound came back to his ears as loud as anything, by now sirens were ringing from all directions.  
  
Next everything came back into focus, he saw Severus knelling in front of him trying to get his attention. Severus had his hand on Harry's face, wiping away the tears that were running down from his eyes, saying soothing words to him, but Harry didn't even feel his touch. He could feel nothing. His words were just jumbled up to Harry, almost like being spoken in another language.  
  
Harry felt very detached as he looked over to the playground, which was empty now. He looked over to the spot where Dudley and he were standing only moments before. He briefly wondered how he had gotten so far away from it. He was sure they hadn't moved since the accident.  
  
Harry thought back to the way Dudley was acting... He was acting nice, kind and he seemed shy. Harry couldn't help but think that that wasn't the Dudley he knew, maybe Harry had made him up? Maybe he wasn't there at all, perhaps he had imagined the whole thing... The Dudley Harry knew would have just pushed him over, teased him and then continued to turn every kid in the playground against him.  
  
Harry tried to convince himself that it had not been Dudley Dursley that he had just been talking too, it had not been Dudley Dursley that had been in that car, and it had not been Dudley Dursley that had just been in a horrific accident.  
  
But the hope that Harry was feeling for that to be true was quickly dying. In an effort to convince himself that Dudley was fine, and just watching TV at home Harry ran, he ran into the crowds of people that now had gathered to watch the rescue people at work.  
  
Weaving in and out of people he eventually made it out to the end of the pack. With adrenaline pumping through his veins Harry ran in the direction of the Dursleys house.  
  
**************************************  
  
Severus watched as they drove off. He was almost mesmerized by the cars as they slowly made contact with each other. By the time he was able to draw his eyes away and shield Harry from it, it was too late. Harry had already seen the worst of it.  
  
He ran after Harry as he tried to get to the car that had his cousin and aunt were in. After only a few steps Severus was able to get both of his hands around Harry's chest and was able to hold him back. He slowly dragged Harry in closer to him, his heart breaking as he heard the grief-stricken moan coming from Harry's mouth.  
  
Finally Harry stopped struggling against Severus. Severus turned him around to face him. Harry looked a mess, his eyes were wide, tears were falling down his face at rapid speeds and he seemed to be in shock.  
  
Severus brought his hand up to Harry's face, shocked at how cold it was. He kept wiping the tears away, all the while asking him questions, and telling him things were going to be okay.  
  
He could see Harry looking back at where they had been, where Harry had been standing with Dudley and he saw the pain that crossed over Harry's face.  
  
Family was very important to Harry, just as it was to Severus. And the fact that Harry had so little family just made it worse for him.  
  
Then without any notice Harry just fled. Before Severus had barely enough time to register it, Harry was gone.  
  
He searched for him but the crowds that he hadn't even noticed before were too hard to see through.  
  
Severus started to feel panicky; he was running through the crowds calling out Harry's name, searching desperately for him.  
  
But Harry was gone.  
  
*****************************************  
  
Harry finally reached the front of the Dursleys house. He didn't even know how he had gotten there, he hadn't known the way, yet it was like he was being drawn down the streets he went.  
  
He stood out the front of the house, taking in the detail of what he had hoped never to see again.  
  
He slowly walked up the few steps to the front door.  
  
Once at the door he slowly brought his hand up to knock. After a moments hesitation he began furiously knocking. Hoping, praying that his cousin or aunt would open the door...  
  
It never happened, the door never opened and Dudley or his aunt never came out. He ran over to the window and looked through the gap of the curtains, but only saw that the house was dark and empty with nobody insight.  
  
He turned around to go look through the other window that they had on the other side of the house when he noticed the driveway. There was no car there.  
  
Harry then realized that he couldn't ignore it any longer. There was no lying to himself anymore.  
  
**********************************************  
  
Severus couldn't find Harry anywhere. He couldn't think straight. Absurd thoughts started to flow through his head as is normal when one is in a panicked state. Severus started thinking that what if the whole thing had been set up in the hopes to kidnap Harry? But then he shot that down, how could they have known that Harry and Severus would have been at the park that day, or even this park, or how could they have known that Harry would have run away and left him. No, Severus needed to keep a clear head. He needed to find Harry.  
  
He couldn't cast any spells or use any magic because one, he was out in public in the muggle community, and two, Harry had charms on him to make him untraceable from anyone. Otherwise it would be too easy for anyone to find him.  
  
Severus didn't know why, but something kept nagging at his mind. Like something in the back of his mind was trying to say something. He visually tried to calm himself and just stood taking deep calm breaths.  
  
Then the nagging went away and Severus felt words ringing in his ears, words that he had heard Harry speak earlier that day.  
  
~ "It was only a few streets away from the Dursleys, so I guess if we look around there then we will be able to find it." ~  
  
Severus didn't know where that voice had just come from, or why it had came to him then, but he truly didn't care. All that mattered was finding Harry.  
  
He took off in the direction of the Dursleys, not sure if he was anywhere close to being right, but it was the only lead he had.  
  
************************************************  
  
Severus would have apparated to the Dursleys but first he would have needed to find someplace where there was nobody around, which at the moment with the accident was very hard to do, and the Dursleys wasn't too far anyway. He wondered why Harry's aunt had actually driven to the park when it would have not only been easier, but cheaper to walk.  
  
As he finally made his way down Privet Drive, his legs protesting against the sudden workout that they were getting, he saw Harry.  
  
He was looking at the empty driveway, just standing there.  
  
As soon as Severus was only a few meters away from Harry he called his name out.  
  
Harry slowly turned around to see Severus running towards him. And as soon as Severus was standing in front of him Harry's legs gave way and only Severus reflexes saved Harry from hitting the cold ground from underneath him. He grabbed hold of Harry and just hugged him.  
  
Severus let him cry, for any child to see such a terrifying accident was traumatizing enough, but to actually know people who were in it, and have them be family, that was just too much for Harry or anyone to take.  
  
They stayed like that until it started to get dark. Then without a word Severus picked Harry up.  
  
Harry moved so that his face was hidden from view and continued to cry.  
  
Severus walked to the same alleyway that he had used before a few years ago, and apparated to Hogsmeade, and then from Hogsmeade they flooed home. He wasn't in the mood for too much walking.  
  
***  
  
Once they were back safely in Snape Manor, Severus took Harry up to his room and changed him into his pajamas. Harry just stayed motionless. Severus felt his forehead and noted that it felt very cold. Moving his hand to his checks he noted the same thing.  
  
He went over to Harry's bed and pulled back the covers and then went back over to Harry, picking him up and bringing him over to his bed. He tucked him in and muttered a spell to keep his sheets warm.  
  
He summoned a dreamless sleep potion, not wanting to leave Harry alone and waited as it made its way up to Harry's room.  
  
He handed it to Harry, who took it knowing what it was as he had had it so many times that he had lost count.  
  
Harry drank it and then gave it back to Severus, who took it and stood to leave, but Harry reached out and grasped his arm.  
  
He looked back at Harry who whispered "Please don't leave me alone"  
  
Severus quickly nodded his head and went to sit down on the chair that was situated next to Harry's bed, but Harry wouldn't let go of his arm.  
  
Severus sighed and sat down next to Harry's lying form on his bed.  
  
Severus leaned his back against the wall that the bed was up against and brought his legs up onto the bed. He watched as Harry in turn used his leg as a pillow. Severus put his hand on Harry's back and moved along in a circular motion, trying to calm him as he fell asleep.  
  
After about half an hour Harry was in a deep sleep, Severus was just about asleep too, and he knew that if he stayed where he was any longer he was going to be very sore in the morning, but looking down at Harry's sleeping form, still using his leg as a pillow, he couldn't bring himself to move. He wanted to be there when Harry awoke.  
  
********************************************  
  
Okay reviewers, a question: Do you want Harry to start calling Severus Dad, or for him to just continue with calling him Severus?? It will be hard to change it now because in the last chapter I changed it and made the Dad comment a one time thing, but if that is what you all want then I should start putting it in the story sooner rather then later... So please review and tell me your opinion! But I will need more then just a couple saying it okay! But I'll make no promises! If it just doesn't fit because of what I have done last chapter then I won't be able to do it okay!  
  
Thanks! 


	22. Pushing Away

Thank you to Ms. Padfoot, athenakitty, WolfMoon, KittyKat589, Barbara, Harriet Potter, CrazycheeseCake, Calani, AtheneLupin, Vulcaine7, Me, angeL_1215, Old Fawkes, MaybeI'llUpdateSoon, Jelly Bean, Tomoyo Sakura, firelizard_720, Kage, Lady Lightning, Kemenran, Kyra, Mikee, BlackRose1356, Teigra, Lei Dumbledore, alexgray, Moonlight, Lokia, Kateri, blackunicorn, Jay, Englishgirl, star-gurl, abigfan, Lina Inverse the Dramata, she, bob33, huldufolknr1, Starr Light, luna699, Sylvester, Zaeria, rebma, Cresha Potter, ROGUE-sorceress, ChevyCowGirl54, Them Girl, NotQuiteFamous, Martine29, selua, black blade, takari4ever7, Corgi, rofro05, brian-blaze15, Atari420, Fallen Dragon, Wytil and kc for reviewing and either leaving comments or suggestions or both! I take everything into account and I am thankful to you all for helping me with this fic, and answering my question! You certainly made the decision easy!  
  
I'm pretty sure that there was only one out of 59 reviews who actually asked for Harry to not call Severus 'Dad'. So sorry to that person but as you can clearly see, the majority have chosen!  
  
Also this is a longer chapter as you can see, it's because I wanted to get this all out in one chapter, instead of dragging it out to two or more.  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 22 - Pushing Away  
  
Severus awoke as the first rays of light started to hit his face. It was very annoying, Severus did not like to be woken up early. He now knew how Harry seemed to always be up and about early morning. He had his own day break alarm.  
  
He looked at Harry and was a bit surprised to see him in the same position as when he had fallen asleep, although so was Severus, not that he was able to move much anyway.  
  
Severus' stomach growling took him out of his thoughts, he was grateful that Harry was still asleep; otherwise it would have been a bit embarrassing.  
  
Severus was in a bind; he could stay where he was with Harry, or he could risk the chance of waking Harry up and move down to the kitchen, therefore making his stomach shut up.  
  
In the end his stomach won out, but only because it was growling so loudly that he was sure that if he stayed put he would end up waking Harry anyway.  
  
He slowly swung the leg that Harry wasn't sleeping on over the side of the bed, wincing as he heard his back crack. It was definitely not a great idea to sleep like that too often.  
  
He slowly and gently un-raveled Harry's hands that were around his other leg and placed them next to his leg, but under the covers to keep them warm.  
  
And then came Harry's head, which was going to be the hard one to move.  
  
He carefully slid his leg out from under his head, replacing it with a pillow as he went.  
  
Two loud stomach growls later he was free.  
  
Severus walked out of the room, he was starving. The only thing he had eaten the previous day was some toast that he had for breakfast.  
  
Once in the kitchen Severus ate in silence, contemplating what had happened the previous day. Severus may not have known anyone in the accident, but it was still quite a shock to see it. Strange how one single accident can cause so many too loose their life, one person's mistake to change the lives of many.  
  
******************************************  
  
Severus continued to check on Harry throughout the rest of the day, but he remained asleep, well at least he remained pretending to be asleep. Severus knew that he should let Harry have some time to himself, but seeing as Harry hadn't eaten for quite a while, Severus walked over him and lightly shook his shoulder.  
  
"Come on Harry, its time to get up"  
  
Harry just snuggled further into his bed and under the covers.  
  
"Harry..." Severus warned  
  
Harry remained silent and still.  
  
Severus sighed and then grabbed hold of the covers, and in one swift motion he pulled them back and onto the ground so Harry couldn't bring them back over him.  
  
Harry was in a small ball. Severus had to stop and marvel at his size, he was still so small for his age, and light. Severus still had little problem carrying him around.  
  
Just as Severus was about to say something else in the hopes that Harry would actually reply Harry beat him to it.  
  
"Am I bad?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Severus asked, sitting down next to Harry on the bed who was still in a ball position.  
  
Harry slowly sat up next to Severus, keeping close to him.  
  
"Well, I keep thinking back to when the accident happened, and all I can remember is wishing that Dudley hadn't been there, even now I wish Dudley was okay."  
  
"That's normal Harry, it doesn't mean you are bad to have those thoughts"  
  
"Yeah, but Dudley wasn't the only one in that accident. Loads of people died. I haven't mourned their deaths. I don't really even spare a second thought to them... I haven't even spared a second thought to my aunt... My aunt died in that accident as well, yet I don't feel any loss by it. Isn't that wrong"  
  
"Harry, all that means is you are human."  
  
"But-"  
  
"No buts Harry"  
  
Harry sighed, the same sigh that Severus found himself doing a lot.  
  
"Do you hate me?"  
  
"Why would I hate you?"  
  
"Bringing you so much trouble"  
  
"Firstly trouble seems to find you..."  
  
Harry smiled a bit at that, but it was still a weak one  
  
"And secondly, I don't hate you, I... I love you, you are my son, and I'm proud of you. You have taken on more then I think an adult could sometimes handle and you do it well."  
  
Harry looked up at Severus and could tell he was speaking the truth.  
  
Harry smiled the only real smile he had since the accident. "I love you too"  
  
Severus smiled and ruffled his hair while he stood up.  
  
"Now come on, go down to the kitchen and you will see some highly greasy food waiting for you to eat. All my hard work of bulking you up is going to waste at the moment. I'll stay back and fix your sheets up."  
  
Harry smiled again and he too got up off the bed, walking towards the doorway. Just as he was about to leave he turned back around.  
  
"Thanks... Dad" Harry added that in and was wondering if he was pushing it a bit too far, he had said it once before, but had never repeated it since.  
  
Severus stopped half way from picking up the sheets he had chucked onto the floor and looked up at Harry. He could see the hope and fear that that one word brought to him. Hope that Severus would accept him, and the fear that he might not.  
  
Severus smiled at Harry. "No need to thank me Harry"  
  
Harry smiled back, his fear melting away from him and he walked out of the room and into the kitchen.  
  
*****************************************  
  
After Severus had finished re-making Harry's bed he entered the kitchen to find that Harry was nowhere in sight. He looked at the plate that he had left for Harry and saw that not much had been eaten, but enough that Harry could get by.  
  
He threw the food away and put the plate in the sink.  
  
He walked into the next room and saw Harry sitting on the ground patting Owl, but he seemed in a trance, staring but not really looking at anything.  
  
"You okay Harry?"  
  
He didn't receive an answer  
  
"Harry? What's wrong?"  
  
After waiting for several minutes and not getting a single answer from Harry, he walked into the room and bent down so he was in front of him.  
  
"Harry..."  
  
Still nothing.  
  
"What's wrong Harry?"  
  
All Harry did was shrug his shoulders.  
  
Severus refrained himself from saying something he might regret later and left the room. He never did have a lot of patience.  
  
He went and did the only thing he could think to do to calm his nerves, he started making a potion, all the while wondering what had happened between when he last saw Harry, and just then, the potion making happening out of habit, so he didn't really have to focus on it.  
  
He was brought out of his concentration by a noise. He looked up to see Remus in the doorway, looking a bit annoyed.  
  
"Did you say something?"  
  
Remus just rolled his eyes, he had been trying to get Severus' attention for a few minutes.  
  
Severus then realized that it had been quite a while since he had started making the potion, it was already dark outside.  
  
"Where's Harry?"  
  
Severus shrugged "Probably his room."  
  
"Oh" Remus turned to go when Severus spoke again.  
  
"Why don't you be of some use and see if you can find out what is wrong with him."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"He won't talk to me"  
  
"Why won't-"  
  
"I don't know Lupin! That's why I'm asking you to find out what is wrong with him" Severus cut Remus off, annoyance taking over.  
  
"Well what did you do?"  
  
"What makes you think I did anything" Severus snapped  
  
Remus opened his mouth to reply but didn't get far enough to actually say anything.  
  
"Oh shut up and go talk to him"  
  
"You do know you just told me to shut up and talk in the same sentence."  
  
Severus glared at Remus, one that sent him leaving the second he saw it.  
  
"Lupin wait!" Severus called out a second later.  
  
When Remus poked his head back in the doorway Severus proceeded to tell him what had happened the day before, knowing that he would probably go and talk to Harry all cheerfully, not realizing that Harry was not upset over just a messily detention.  
  
***************************  
  
"Harry?"  
  
Remus walked into his room and turned the light on,  
  
He saw Harry sitting in the far corner of the room  
  
Remus walked over and sat next to him.  
  
"Harry... I'm so sorry. Nobody should have to see what you saw, nobody... or should they have to experience the sort of lose that you have"  
  
Harry sniffled.  
  
"Harry if you need someone to talk too, I'm here. Believe me, I know what it's like. I've been through this many times... I went through what you're going through right now when your parents died."  
  
Harry nodded, finally looking over at him.  
  
"How are you holding up?"  
  
"Okay I guess..." Harry answered  
  
After a few minutes of silence Remus finally asked "Are you mad at Severus?"  
  
Harry shook his head.  
  
"Then why aren't you talking to him?"  
  
Harry shrugged.  
  
"You're trying to push him away aren't you?"  
  
"I'm not-"  
  
"Yes you are, believe me Harry, I've tried to do that before, it doesn't work."  
  
Harry sighed, starting to get a bit annoyed "He's Severus, he's my dad, I can't loose him too,"  
  
"Harry you're not going to loose him"  
  
Harry didn't answer  
  
"Harry you need him."  
  
"I'm doing him a favour"  
  
"How is pushing him away doing him a favour?"  
  
"I'm cursed, or something like it"  
  
"Who told you that?"  
  
"No one had to tell me Remus, it's obvious. Maybe when your family starts dying until you have none left you might understand me!" Harry answered, getting frustrated, his voice increasing in volume.  
  
"Harry! Severus is your family... I'm your family."  
  
"You know what I mean Remus... first my parents, then my Aunt and Dudley. I don't want you or dad to get hurt" Harry said, not realizing what he had just called Severus in front of Remus.  
  
Remus was a bit shocked at hearing Harry refer to Severus as 'Dad'. Harry had sort of earlier in the conversation, but that was the first time he had heard him refer to him solely as that. But it was to be expected, Severus was a father to him, he had raised him since he was only 5, and strangely enough Remus wasn't too upset about Harry calling him that.  
  
"Harry, pushing Severus away isn't the way to solving this."  
  
After a few minutes of silence Harry finally answered.  
  
"I know..." Harry turned his head away as tears started to freely fall down his face. "It just... It hurts so badly"  
  
Remus' heart broke.  
  
"Come here" Remus reached out and pulled Harry into a bone crushing hug.  
  
After 20minutes had past and they still hadn't moved, Remus decided that it was best if he went. He had to speak to Dumbledore early the next morning.  
  
"Now it's getting late, so you should probably get some rest. I want you to remember what I said okay Harry"  
  
Harry nodded as he wiped away the tears that were still all over his face.  
  
Remus helped Harry into bed, kissing his forehead before leaving.  
  
***  
  
Remus walked into the kitchen where Severus was currently staring into space. He had obviously finished his potion.  
  
When Remus entered Severus threw him a questioning look.  
  
"Well..."  
  
Remus leaned against the door frame and answered casually. "He'll come around, he's just afraid of losing you. You really mean a lot to him."  
  
Severus nodded, going back to his coffee that he had in his hand and taking a sip.  
  
"I have to say that it was a bit of a shock when he referred to you as 'Dad'."  
  
Severus quickly looked up at Remus to see if he was angry at all about it, after all it was James Potter's son who was calling him 'Dad'. But Remus didn't seem to be really that fussed about it.  
  
"If someone had told me 10-15 years ago that James' son would be calling you that, I would have sent them to St Mungo's without a moment's hesitation."  
  
Severus smiled at that, it was true. He would have probably hexed them for saying such a thing and then sent them there.  
  
"Well I best be off, if there are any problems just floo me, and I'll be around to visit later."  
  
Severus nodded to show that he was okay with that and Remus left.  
  
After cleaning up the day's mess in the kitchen, Severus made his way up to bed.  
  
He paused at Harry's door, wondering if he should go in and see him or not. But after thinking about it he decided to leave him, when Harry was ready to see him he would.  
  
Severus then entered his room and quickly got changed, finally falling onto his bed after a long day, falling asleep.  
  
***  
  
Harry lay in his bed thinking. Was letting Severus get so close to him worth the risk of getting his heart broken? He knew that he wouldn't be able to cope if he died. Was he willing to put that risk out there, and willingly love Severus? But he realized that no matter how far he pushed him away, he would still be just as devastated if he died. What was the point in holding back?  
  
Harry slowly got up and walked out of his room.  
  
He walked over to the door just opposite his own and slowly opened it.  
  
He could see his father's sleeping figure in the dark. He slowly crept over and climbed up onto the bed. Waking Severus up as the bed moved with his sudden weight on it.  
  
"Harry?" Severus asked, squinting his eyes to see him in the dark. He sat up a bit and leaned back on his elbows.  
  
Harry only snuggled into Severus, laying his head on the edge of Severus' chest.  
  
Severus lay back down, bringing his arm around Harry, both falling asleep within minutes.  
  
No words were needed to be said. 


	23. Goodbye

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MaybeI'llUpdateSoon - If I have any plot problems, I'll be sure to email you! Thank you for the offer!  
  
ROGUE-sorceress - Sorry! I didn't realise there was three of you! I could only at the time remember seeing one! I hope you still like this and continue to read it!  
  
I was actually ready to post this a while ago but ff.net would not cooperate (surprise surprise) ... So I'm sorry for the delay! Also chapters will most likely not be as quickly updated as they are normally... I'll try my best to at least get one a week out (hopefully two!)... It's just I've got school, sport and work to cope with as well!  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 23 - Goodbye  
  
A couple of days later the funerals of both Dudley and his Aunt were being held, Harry had wanted to go but his father hadn't allowed it for the simple reason that his uncle would be there. His uncle had requested permission and whoever it was that had the power to do so had pity on him. He had just lost his wife and son.  
  
But his father wouldn't let Harry around him even if there were lots of police officers going to be surrounding his uncle.  
  
For the tenth time that day Harry walked up to his father and begged that he let him go. Harry felt that he needed to see where it was that Dudley was going to be buried. He needed to say that he was sorry and to say goodbye.  
  
His father looked like he was going to 'no' again, when he just looked at Harry, he seemed to be thinking.  
  
"Harry..."  
  
"Please! I just... I just need to say goodbye, please..." Harry held back tears and looked pleadingly up at his father.  
  
He thought more on it and looked back at Harry.  
  
"Okay... but later on today"  
  
Harry nodded.  
  
***  
  
Severus finally gave in, seeing the look on Harry's face, besides it would be good for Harry to be able to say goodbye to his cousin. But Severus would only allow Harry to go after the funeral was over, when there wouldn't be anyone there, and that was because Harry's uncle would be there, he knew that it wouldn't take long for him to find out that Harry had been there when the accident happened, and for him to blame it all on Harry. Harry definitely didn't need that.  
  
The truth was that it was caused by a drunk driver. He along with all who had been in the accident (fourteen in all) were all killed. No survivors.  
  
****************************************  
  
After a quick lunch Severus and Harry flooed to Hogsmeade, and then Severus apparated them both to the cemetery where Dudley was to be buried. He stood back and let Harry take his time.  
  
***  
  
Harry didn't know what to do, how should he act to the grave of someone that he had previously hated, but recently made peace with?  
  
We walked over to the headstone and felt strange, strange that where he was standing, Dudley was buried right under.  
  
Harry shivered and walked backwards, until he knew that he was no longer standing above where Dudley's corpse would be.  
  
It just felt... wrong.  
  
He looked back up at his father to see him give a small smile in support.  
  
Harry walked around the grave, so he was at the side of the headstone.  
  
He reached out a hand and felt his fingertips lightly touch the headstone. He felt a few tears fall down his face but he barely noticed.  
  
With a whisper he said "Bye Dudley"  
  
He didn't know how long he stood like that, but he didn't really care.  
  
Finally Harry turned back around and with one last look at the grave where Dudley was, he walked away and towards his father who was patiently waiting for him a few metres away.  
  
Harry spared a small look towards his aunt's grave, which was next to Dudley's, but he didn't say anything.  
  
***  
  
Severus watched as Harry walked slowly over to Dudley's grave, he could tell that even though this was a step in the right direction, a step to heal the pain and move on... Harry was depressed. And he couldn't stand to think that Harry was unhappy.  
  
Severus needed to distract him, let him experience something new. Have some fun. He didn't know if he should invite someone else like Ron or Lupin, where he was sure to have fun. But after a moment of continued thinking he decided that it would be best if it was he and Harry who would do something together. After all, the last time had been a complete disaster so he had a lot to make up for. Now all he had to do was think of something that he and Harry could do together that Harry would enjoy.  
  
He briefly thought back to his childhood, when his mother was alive she would love to take him to the places where he could see the effects of certain potions. It was what had started his love for them, to want to be able to do what he saw so many other people doing. But he couldn't picture that Harry would enjoy that too much.  
  
Well that was a good place to start, what did Harry like? And that was easily answered; Harry not only liked, but loved Quidditch.  
  
So his options would be too... take him to a Quidditch shop? No, Harry had already been there, and even though Severus knew that Harry would enjoy himself there anyway, he wanted Harry to experience something new.  
  
So... perhaps a Quidditch match? Yes, that would be perfect.  
  
He looked over to see that Harry was walking back towards him. He bent down and wiped the few stray tears from Harry's face.  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
Harry nodded his head, not looking away from Severus' eyes.  
  
"Are you ready to leave?"  
  
Harry looked back at Dudley's grave then back at his father and again nodded.  
  
"Come on" Severus took Harry's hand and apparated to Hogsmeade, and walked into the joke shop Zonko's, which confused Harry as there was no fireplace there to get home.  
  
Severus told Harry to have a look around while he went up to the front of the store and spoke to the owner.  
  
***  
  
Harry had been in this store only once before. Fred and George had told him all about it when they had been allowed to visit it, although that was under the watchful eye of their mother, they couldn't wait until third year when they would be allowed to visit it without supervision. Sure there would be Professors about, but they couldn't keep their eyes on everyone. Harry smiled, remembering the conversation.  
  
Harry shook his head and paid attention to the tricks around him. He could understand why Fred and George loved the place so much. They were quite the pranksters at their home and this would seem like heaven to them. Hogwarts was definitely going to be interesting this year.  
  
Harry scrolled down the aisles, not really paying attention to his father who was talking to someone.  
  
He found a few things that made him smile when he thought of where and how he would use them if given the chance, but he was unable to enjoy the funny images his imagination would bring up of a trick he could play on some of the professors he disliked, he was still feeling to down.  
  
He sighed. He was tired of feeling down all the time. He had been feeling down for as long as he can remember from age 5 and downward, though with the stories he had heard he supposed he probably shouldn't think that he was feeling down below the age of 1, and a bit after that. And even when he was with his father bad things still seemed to happen...  
  
Harry shook those thoughts away, now was not the time to get all upset.  
  
He continued walking down the aisles, again wondering what they were doing here.  
  
***  
  
Severus walked up to the front desk and waited for the owner to come out.  
  
However the owner of the shop did not come out, but his daughter, a former student of his, a Slytherin did. He only taught her in her 6th and 7th year but she had been a good student, a bit of a trouble maker, but what can you expect from the person whose father owns Zonko's. She didn't give him any trouble throughout his first years of teaching and had helped him along the way a bit. He was quite fond of her.  
  
"Hello Professor, and what do I owe this pleasure?"  
  
"Charlotte" Severus nodded his head to him in a greeting. "Is your father here?"  
  
She shook his head. "You know him professor, when a Quidditch match is on... I am here to mind the store" She said, rolling her eyes.  
  
Severus smiled. "That's what I wanted to ask him about. I was hoping I could take Harry to a game... you don't happen to know what time it started? Or where it may be?" Severus had never been to a match before, not really liking Quidditch much, and he had absolutely no idea where it would be played at. Things like that he normally tuned out when he heard someone mention it. He was only interested in the house Quidditch at Hogwarts because it normally meant that he could get a lot more extra points, well, if they won.  
  
"Of course I do! I hear about the bloody place everyday! You can just floo there, it shouldn't be too busy because it would have started a few minutes ago, but I'm sure you can get tickets there. Just say 'South Q.S' and you should arrive right there."  
  
He smiled at her.  
  
"Thank you Charlotte."  
  
"Anytime Professor"  
  
He smiled again and went back to find Harry.  
  
He finally found him looking into space, and he lightly put his hand on his shoulder to get his attention.  
  
"Are you ready Harry?"  
  
Harry nodded  
  
They walked into The Three Broomsticks and used the fire there, but this time instead of calling out 'Snape Manor' like Harry was expecting, Severus called out 'South Q.S'  
  
After quite a lot of spinning, they finally arrived at there destination.  
  
All Harry could see was a few people here and there, and a massive wall a few meters away, a wall that he was sure didn't end for a long, long time. The noise was deafening. Just as he was wondering what it all was he saw someone on a broom fly over the wall, chasing a Bludger. They finally got it and hit it back over the wall and he guessed after someone else.  
  
Just as Harry was about to ask his father why they were here he noticed that he was gone. Harry looked around to see him talking to a man, who after a moment gave him two pieces of parchment.  
  
His father then walked back over to him.  
  
"Okay Harry, I assume you have figured out where we are. I thought this might cheer you up a bit. Now all you have to do is keep hold of this, well keep it on you at all times while you're here."  
  
He handed Harry one of the pieces of parchment he had in his hand.  
  
Harry looked confused. Why would he want a piece of blank parchment?  
  
"Why do I need this?"  
  
His father went into teacher mode. "Well before you can go into the stands, you pass a spell that looks for this piece of parchment. If you don't have it, then it will act like a wall and won't let you in. you can leave and go as you please, and as long as you have this parchment, and the current game is still on, then you can get in."  
  
Harry nodded, clearly impressed, it was a smart way to stop people from sneaking in.  
  
"And after the game is finished" His father continued, while walking towards the entrance "this piece of parchment wont be blank, it will have the final score of the game and a bit of the game will play out on it, so you can remember it all... or so the man that sold it too me says"  
  
By this time they had reached the entrance and Harry looked on in amazement. There was so many people around, thousands it looked like.  
  
After finding their seats Harry and Severus sat down and watched the game. They had no idea who was playing, both not following the teams very closely. All they knew was one team was red, and one was blue and yellow.  
  
Harry watched in awe, the players were so professional and talented, every move they made was for a reason. The keepers were blocking all types of tricky shots, while the chasers were making those tricky shots in the first place. The chasers were weaving in and out of each other. It was almost hard to keep up with them. And the beaters were very powerful, he couldn't imagine a stronger force behind a Bludger.  
  
But Harry liked the seekers the best, he could see them not only watching the rest of the game, but also looking for the snitch.  
  
Harry just couldn't take his eyes away from it all.  
  
***  
  
Severus chuckled a bit while watching Harry. His head was going from one end of the field to the other. It had been two hours and Harry hadn't looked away.  
  
Severus had given up trying to see them all, he just couldn't keep up with them, they were all just blurs to him. Looking around he saw that almost everyone had Omnioculars, he cursed himself for forgetting something like that.  
  
But he could see that Harry seemed to be able to get everything. He must have good long distance sight or something. Good for a seeker.  
  
He was completely bored. Not being able to see the players properly, or knowing who the teams were, he started naming potions that he could make when he got back home in his head.  
  
After another half an hour had passed and Severus could hear the announcer saying that some person he had never heard of was going for the snitch. He really could barely hear them, all through the game he hadn't, though it could have been because he wasn't listening to them...  
  
Severus looked back up at the game and at that exact moment over half the crowd started to cheer.  
  
The announcer was barely heard  
  
"...Wins, defeating...al score of...and ten to three hundrend and..." Severus just gave up.  
  
Severus looked back at Harry to see the biggest smile that he had seen on his face for a long time.  
  
"Thank you so much Dad" Harry said, hugging him.  
  
Severus smiled at him,  
  
"So you enjoyed it?"  
  
Harry nodded eagerly.  
  
"Did you?" Harry asked as they were walking back to find a fire, though it would probably take a while since there was massive crowds also waiting.  
  
"Umm..." Severus looked at Harry's face, the boredom that he had felt before was forgotten "Yes, yes I did" 


	24. Birthdays

Thank you to Ms. Padfoot, angeL_1215, Corgi, Kemenran, sev1970, CrazycheeseCake, Teigra, Kyra, chips challenge, Sylvanus Snape, Kyra, Alexial, beefywpac, Kateri, Fire'N'Ice, Lokia, Jedi Cosmos, momo, Them Girl, Rickman's Girl, luna699, Ms. Issues, fallen Dragon, Lei Dumbledore, Firebird, palanmenel, Mikee, soul, Barbara, beyond infinity, SparkySparkles, Lady Lightning, Vulcaine7, Calani, Jordan, J, huldufolknr1, MaybeI'llUpdateSoon and selua for reviewing!  
  
Also some people have requested a Harry/Severus/Vernon confrontation, I might have that happen, but if it does it will be in a later chapter. Also Harry's first year should be coming up in a few chapters, maybe after the next one... I haven't decided yet.  
  
Well it was a toss up, I could both finish this chapter and post it, or I could do some homework that is due tomorrow and leave this chapter until later... the chapter won out! It is longer then normal so I hope you enjoy it!  
  
And I apologize in advance for any mistakes in this chapter, I don't think this is one of my good chapters at all. Sorry guys!  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 24 - Birthdays  
  
It had become a sort of tradition for Harry to wake up early on his birthday, therefore waking his father up early. And this year Harry wasn't going to change his ways.  
  
That morning Harry awoke at the early rays of light. He was now officially 9 years old.  
  
Harry smiled as we walked over to his father's room and quietly opening the door, wondering how he was going to wake him up this year. It was easy for his father to think of imaginative ways to wake him up because he could do magic, and there was no way that Harry was going to try to take his wand again.  
  
Harry stood at the end of his bed wondering what he could do. In previous years he had jumped on his bed, yelled extremely loud in his ear and last year he had a bit of help from Remus. He had gotten Remus to float him high in the air above his bed and then Harry screamed, causing his father to wake up straight away. When he had found himself floating in midair he had also given a small shriek, but not small enough that Remus and Harry hadn't heard. They only let him down when he had mentioned the fact that he had to go to the toilet quite badly. They had teased him for the next few days constantly about it.  
  
"Well are you going to hurry up and wake me or are you just going to stand there all day?" Severus asked  
  
Harry jumped, not expecting his father to be awake.  
  
"Hey! You're awake."  
  
"Good observation Harry" Severus replied sarcastically.  
  
Harry looked a bit putout at not being able to wake Severus up.  
  
"Honestly Harry, did you not think that I would cotton on to what you do every year, did you really expect that I would continue to let you torment me into waking up every morning of your birthday. You're going to have to be more devious then that. Do something that is unanticipated, something that I'm not expecting!" Severus said while getting up.  
  
Harry looked thoughtful at that.  
  
"Now go and wait in the living room, I believe Lupin will be arriving soon."  
  
Just as Harry reached the living room Remus walked through.  
  
"Remus!" Harry ran over to him and hugged him tightly, he hadn't seen him for a couple of weeks, but before that he had helped Harry deal with Dudley's death.  
  
"Happy Birthday Harry!" Remus smiled at Harry  
  
Harry then led Remus into the kitchen to start some breakfast.  
  
Remus made enough breakfast for him, Harry and Severus. He didn't allow Harry to start making it since he was the 'birthday boy'.  
  
Severus walked in half way and sat quietly, eating what was left on the table.  
  
"So what are you doing today Harry?"  
  
"I'm going to Diagon Alley with Ron, and then Ron is sleeping over for a full week."  
  
"Sounds like fun."  
  
Severus made a face at Remus.  
  
Harry nodded, unable to talk due to having too much food in his mouth at that point.  
  
Remus smiled and then while Harry was taking his last bite he pulled out a package for Harry and placed it on the table next to his now finished plate.  
  
When Harry had swallowed his food down he looked curiously at the package, looking up at Remus and saw that he was waiting for Harry to start opening it, so he did.  
  
Harry tore the paper and found a pair of Quidditch gloves which looked slightly used and a whole bunch of chocolate frogs.  
  
Harry was about to comment when Remus beat him to it.  
  
"The Quidditch gloves were your fathers. I believe he won two or three Quidditch cups with them. He loved them, never left them out of his sight. He said they brought him good luck. Your mother was the one who gave them to him. I just happened to find them and I thought you might like them, they might bring you the same luck one day."  
  
Harry looked at them with admiration. There was a small inscription on one of the gloves that had his fathers name on it.  
  
He thanked Remus and put them on. They were a bit big but Harry was still growing so by the time he was able to play Quidditch, maybe for whatever house he was in if he made the team, they would fit.  
  
Severus then cleared his throat and handed Harry a book.  
  
Harry turned it over to read in his head 'Every Potion under the Sun' only for him to look at his father and repeat it out loud.  
  
Severus nodded. "The heading is a bit misleading though, the book is suitable for someone like you, you won't be able to do too much damage with the potions in there and there are no dark or harmful ones."  
  
Harry nodded and thanked him, not wanting to seem ungrateful.  
  
He skimmed through the pages and started to read one when another book was placed in front of it.  
  
"I almost forgot that one." Severus had a slight teasing note to his voice.  
  
Harry turned it over and saw that it was a large book on Quidditch.  
  
Harry smiled brightly and thanked him with more enthusiasm.  
  
"You brought him a Quidditch book? You do know that now you won't see him until he has finished it a few times over." Remus joked.  
  
"Yes I brought him a Quidditch book, though perhaps a comb would have been better suited" Severus said as he eyed Harry hair which was all over the place.  
  
Remus laughed, remembering how much trouble Lily had trying to keep James' hair looking less like a tornado had just been through it.  
  
***  
  
Remus was right. Harry was reading that book right up until Ron came over an hour later, before that Severus and Remus couldn't drag him away from it.  
  
Ron had given him so many Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans that Harry felt a bit sick just looking at them all.  
  
Dumbledore came by just before they were getting ready to leave to go to Diagon Alley.  
  
He wished Harry a happy Birthday and gave him a small parcel. Harry opened it and saw that it was a picture frame, the frame had brooms all over it, which were all moving and the picture was of Harry when he was 6 asleep in the arms of his father who was also asleep.  
  
Harry smiled and thanked Dumbledore and ran up to his room to place it beside his bed.  
  
When Harry returned Dumbledore was about to leave.  
  
"I'm sorry but I must leave now, lots to do. I'll see you another time Harry and I'll see you tonight Severus."  
  
Everyone waved as Dumbledore disappeared into the fire.  
  
"Why are you seeing Albus tonight Dad?"  
  
"Just a bit of business, I'm leaving both you and Ron on your own for a couple of hours so I hope that I can trust there will be no problems." Severus looked pointedly at Harry.  
  
Harry smiled innocently at his father, all the while a plan forming in his mind.  
  
Remus declined the offer to join Harry and Ron in Diagon Alley and left with the promise of seeing Harry soon.  
  
Once in Diagon Alley Harry and Ron were allowed to go around on their own, with strict instructions to both Harry and Ron to say within Diagon Alley and with each other. They were to meet Severus for lunch.  
  
***  
  
Ron and Harry spent most of their time in the Quidditch shop, though after an hour and a half they decided that they should see some other shops as well.  
  
As Harry was entering a joke shop he saw his father's dad come out of a potion ingredients shop and heading down towards Knockturn Alley. He looked like he was struggling with the obvious heavy load he was carrying.  
  
Harry watched until he was out of sight and then turned to a confused looking Ron.  
  
Harry smiled at Ron and then entered the joke shop, which was a bit like Zonko's. When it was nearly time for lunch Harry and Ron walked out of the shop.  
  
"I'll race you back..."  
  
Harry looked at Ron and then agreed, they both raced in and out through people, never once losing sight of each other, but it was clear that Ron was faster.  
  
**  
  
Ron stopped in front of Severus, who was still surprised at seeing Ron sprinting towards him. He was bent over and breathing hard.  
  
"Where's-" Severus started but stopped as he saw Harry do the same thing as Ron and stop in front of him, panting and trying to catch his breath.  
  
"What's wrong? Why were you both running?" Severus looked around trying to see if someone was chasing them.  
  
Ron spoke as it was clear that Harry was still trying to breathe right.  
  
"We had a race..." Ron panted.  
  
Severus sighed at them, seeing them both looking completely drained of energy and both looking hot at the sudden run they did.  
  
Severus sat them down at a table and ordered them drinks.  
  
Once they settled in Severus asked them if they had a good time today.  
  
Both nodded.  
  
Harry thought about telling his father about seeing his dad but he didn't want to upset him, he could bring up some unwanted memories. So instead he started a conversation with Ron.  
  
"I didn't know that you were such a fast runner."  
  
"Well with 5 older brothers you learn quickly." Ron answered between shoveling food through his mouth.  
  
Harry nodded understandingly, when he was with the Dursleys he had found himself running a lot.  
  
He felt a small pang in his heart thinking of Dudley but he quickly pushed those thoughts away and concentrated on eating the food in front of him and trying to think of an answer to the question that he had totally missed his father saying.  
  
****  
  
"I don't know Harry, he is really scary normally, and I don't want to know what he is like when he has just had a prank pulled on him." Ron said as he and Harry crept down to the storage room to get some ingredients that would be needed. Severus had just left to go see Dumbledore.  
  
"Oh come on Ron, he basically told me this morning to do this, besides you won't get yelled at or punished by him, I'll be the one who does. Your safe until you go to Hogwarts, then I can't promise you anything. Come on."  
  
"Well what if you make it wrong?"  
  
"Ron, I've been basically trained since I got here to know how to handle and make potions. Everything will be fine!"  
  
"Okay... how long do we have until your dad gets back?"  
  
Ron had taken to Severus being Harry's dad easily, he was the only father figure that he had seen Harry with so to him it was normal for Harry to call him that.  
  
"A couple of hours, he won't leave us alone for too long, he seems to think we get into too much trouble when we are left alone."  
  
Both Harry and Ron thought about what Harry had just said, not really understanding why Severus would think that, even though they were just about to do something wrong then.  
  
Harry shrugged and then continued with getting the ingredients that he needed.  
  
"Besides, he'll never guess that I would make a potion to get back at him, he knows that I don't really like them that much."  
  
"Then why did he get you that potions book?"  
  
"To annoy me, he probably thinks that I won't read it anyway."  
  
"But you have right?"  
  
"Some, it's where I got this potion we're about to make from"  
  
"But he's the Potion Master, he's sure to know a potion when he has one!"  
  
"I've added some other ingredients that's should make it odorless and tasteless."  
  
"What do you mean 'should'?"  
  
"Well... I'm not entirely sure that it will blend in with what else he is drinking."  
  
"What!"  
  
"Don't worry Ron, everything will be fine, I know it!"  
  
"Oh yeah, and how do you know this will work?"  
  
"Because I saw it with my inner eye!" Harry said dramatically.  
  
Harry had told Ron about Professor Trelawney and Ron had even had the displeasure of meeting her once. To say that Ron didn't like her was an understatement. He had as much love for her as Harry did.  
  
"So okay, we make this potion, and let's just say that we by some miracle get him to drink it and everything goes well, won't he get suspicious when he starts to hiccup excessively afterwards?"  
  
"Perhaps, but that wont change his mind from taking an anti-hiccupping potion."  
  
"Which will?"  
  
"Ron, do you ever listen to me?"  
  
"Umm..."  
  
Harry sighed and explained for what felt like to him, the tenth time that day.  
  
"Both potions will react together to make him really sleepy, so we will have to be sure to give him the potion late tonight, so that he doesn't think anything of being tired. Then that is when the potion will work. He won't be able to sleep in past... I would estimate 6am, 6:10am until he has the counter potion."  
  
"Have you made the counter-potion yet?"  
  
"That takes a while, plus I don't plan to give him it or tell him about the potion."  
  
Ron looked at Harry with his mouth wide open.  
  
"What do you mean? Like never?"  
  
"Well... I probably make it next time I am left alone in the house again... which could be a while."  
  
"I think it would be best to let him sleep in before school starts, Fred and George are going to be there this year and if he is like what you say he is like when he is tired, then things could get ugly."  
  
Harry nodded "I never thought of that... Maybe we will be able to get the counter-potion done sometime this week, then I'll just have to give it too him without him knowing."  
  
"Is the only side affect of the potion hiccupping afterwards?"  
  
"Yep, and that he will have got rid of with the anti-hiccupping potion."  
  
Ron nodded.  
  
"Could you pass me the horned slugs?"  
  
"Umm..."  
  
"Honestly Ron, it's not that hard to figure which one it is, it's just by your hand."  
  
"Well it's easy for you, you happen to live with a Potions Master, I however do not."  
  
Harry rolled his eyes and took the horned slugs from Ron's hand and added it to the ingredients.  
  
Once they were all out in front of him he made a time plan.  
  
"Okay, it should take about 20 minutes to make the potion, and then we will have to let it sit for an hour and a half, so we will have 10 minutes to pack and clean the cauldron up before dad gets home."  
  
"And you're sure that he will be two hours."  
  
"Well let's just hope so."  
  
"That's reassuring."  
  
While Ron and Harry had been talking, Harry had been adding the ingredients and stirring when he was meant to. The potion he was making didn't need too much concentration, if he had made it before Harry was sure he would be able to do it with his eyes closed, but since it was his first time he kept his eyes on it, also he needed to keep a check on its colour.  
  
When Harry finished Ron asked what they should do now.  
  
"Clean up the ingredients and then wait for the potion to be done. It would have been better if dad had left for longer."  
  
"And what happens if he comes home early?"  
  
"We'll worry about that when and if it happens."  
  
***  
  
Just as Harry had finished bottling the potion he heard the fire blaze.  
  
Ron looked as panicked as Harry felt. His father had come home early.  
  
"Quick, go distract him!"  
  
"What? What am I supposed to say?"  
  
"I don't know, just make sure he keeps clear of here, I'll quickly clean the cauldron."  
  
Ron nodded and quickly headed up the stairs and found Severus heading towards the kitchen.  
  
Ron quickly ran into the kitchen to make sure he didn't go from there down to the dungeon where Harry was.  
  
"Ron?" Severus asked.  
  
"Umm... Hi, how was Dumbledore?" Ron had no idea what to say, he didn't really actually talk to him anyway.  
  
Severus narrowed his eyes at Ron "He's the same as he was this morning... Where is Harry?"  
  
"Harry? Harry is in... He's in the toilet" Ron finally decided on one. He never was a good liar and especially not when the person was eyeing him so suspiciously.  
  
Severus walked out of the kitchen and started to head down to the dungeon.  
  
"No! Wait..." Ron quickly called out to him as he ran over to stand in- between the entry way of the dungeons and Severus.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I... I wanted to ask you something..."  
  
"Well hurry up, what is it?"  
  
"Can we go back into the kitchen?"  
  
"What's wrong with here?"  
  
"I feel more comfortable in the kitchen."  
  
"Fine, just hurry up, I have a headache and I want to get a headache relieving potion."  
  
Ron nodded and followed him into the kitchen, all the while wondering what he was supposed to be asking Harry's dad.  
  
Once Ron and Severus were in the kitchen Severus looked at Ron expectantly.  
  
When Ron didn't say anything Severus started to get a bit annoyed.  
  
"Well!"  
  
"Oh, right... well I was wondering..." Ron looked around for help and all he could see was food. "I was wondering what was for dinner..." Ron finished quietly.  
  
"What?" Severus seemed to be getting mad now.  
  
"Hi dad" Harry interrupted anything more that Severus was going to say as he walked in.  
  
"Harry!" Ron sounded relieved.  
  
"Come on Ron, I want to show you something up in my room."  
  
Ron nodded eagerly and they both ran out of the kitchen and into Harry's room.  
  
Leaving Severus glaring at where they had been standing in the kitchen.  
  
Severus walked into his dungeons and grabbed a headache relieving potion from his cupboard. Drinking every drop of it, not noticing that his cauldron that he normally used for potions had been moved across the room to a different shelf from where he last put it.  
  
He walked out to get dinner ready.  
  
***  
  
"Did you want a drink Ron?" Harry asked, getting up. They had just finished dinner.  
  
Ron tried to hide his smile and nodded.  
  
"Dad?"  
  
"What?" Severus asked, looking up from what he was reading.  
  
"Did you want a drink?"  
  
Severus shook his head and went back to his reading, not paying attention to either Harry or Ron.  
  
Ron's face fell.  
  
Harry smiled at Ron and then got out three glasses. He poured himself and Ron a glassful of pumpkin juice, and then filled half of Severus' glass. The other half he filled with the potion.  
  
He smelled it and it didn't smell any different, and it looked normal. Keeping an eye on Severus' glass he placed them all on the table and slid Severus' in front of him.  
  
Severus looked at it but didn't comment on the fact that he had been given one when he had not asked for it.  
  
After a while Severus took the glass and drank it. Harry and Ron watched his face carefully to see if what they had done worked. And by the fact that he had not spat it out they took it as a yes. It had worked.  
  
They both smiled at each other and silently left. Harry almost cracked up laughing when he heard Severus starting to hiccup.  
  
Both Ron and Harry had an early night, wanting to be up early the next morning to see if the potion worked.  
  
************************************  
  
Harry and Ron awoke at 6:30am to a loud thump outside their door, after they could hear excessive swearing. They both ran out to see Severus on the floor, trying to get up. Both Harry and Ron got the impression that this would be how Severus would act if he were drunk.  
  
Harry and Ron laughed and ran back into Harry's room to get changed.  
  
***  
  
The rest of the day Severus was acting like he was drunk, falling over everywhere and squinting to see everything.  
  
***  
  
A few days later while Harry and Ron were outside Remus came over.  
  
"What happened to you Severus? You look like you fell off your broom a few times while having a hippogriff land on you once you hit the ground!"  
  
"Such kind words Lupin, I'm sorry to disappoint you but I feel absolutely fine, I don't know what's wrong with me."  
  
"Maybe you're sick? You sure look it."  
  
"Maybe... I'm sure that Harry and Ron did something to me while I was away the other day, and I'm sure it has to do with a potion, also why I can't seem to sleep in any time after 6am no matter how tired I feel."  
  
"What makes you think that?"  
  
"Well when I got back Ron wouldn't let me go anywhere near the Dungeons, he was acting really odd. Also I can tell that some ingredients are missing, I just can't figure out what ones they are. They both seem in an exceptionally good mood, like they know something I don't."  
  
"So what are you going to do? If it is true, then both Harry and Ron have gone to a lot of trouble of cleaning up any trails left behind."  
  
"Well I do have one idea that should get what they did out of them... if they did nothing then what I will do shouldn't have any real affect on them."  
  
"What are you going to do?" Remus asked suspiciously  
  
"Just go along with me"  
  
Remus narrowed his eyes at Severus but he was paying no attention to him.  
  
Before Remus could say anything else Harry and Ron walked through the door.  
  
"Hey Remus, hey Dad. What are you doing here Remus?"  
  
"Stay away Harry, Ron. I'm really sick. I must have mixed some potions up. I only remember having one though, must have been an off one. Lupin is here to take me to the hospital to get my stomach scanned."  
  
Harry and Ron stood in the doorway with their mouths open wide.  
  
Remus caught on and decided to add to it as well.  
  
"Yes, well Severus we should be off. You should only be in St Mungo's for a few weeks." Remus looked gravely at Severus.  
  
Severus nodded and slowly, making it look as painful as ever he got up.  
  
"If only we knew what was off with that potion or what potions I mixed, it's going to take quite a while to find out what it was."  
  
Both Ron and Harry were looking panicky now, they watched as Remus led Severus over to the fire.  
  
Just as Remus was about to throw some powder into the fire, Harry yelled for them to stop.  
  
"What's wrong Harry?" Remus asked.  
  
"It was me, I did it."  
  
"Did what?"  
  
"I made the potion. I gave Dad a type of sleeping potion."  
  
"But I'm not having trouble waking up..."  
  
"No, but you would have mixed it up with the anti-hiccupping potion, which made you not be able to sleep in past 6am. I don't know what's wrong. I was sure I made it right." Harry looked very guilty and upset.  
  
"Harry, rule number one in potion making, never doubt your abilities."  
  
Harry looked confused and then saw that his father was now no longer looking like he was in pain. In fact he looked like he what he had since he had been given the potion.  
  
"You set this up to get Harry to confess." Ron accused.  
  
Severus smiled.  
  
"It was an interesting potion you picked Harry, very imaginative, and you thought about how other potions would affect it and you used that towards getting your final product. I'm impressed, I wouldn't have thought you smart enough for that yet."  
  
Harry semi-glared at Severus.  
  
"Yes, who would have thought that potions book you brought me would actually come in handy"  
  
Remus laughed.  
  
"He pulled a prank on you from something you gave him as a joke for his birthday."  
  
"Why did you pick that potion Harry?" Severus asked, ignoring Remus.  
  
"Well when you seemed to come accustomed to my footsteps in your room, you seem to be able to wake yourself up when you hear them. It was getting harder to wake you up, so I thought I would get a potion to do it for me."  
  
Severus didn't know whether to be impressed that Harry had done all that, and made a perfect potion by himself or angry that he a prank pulled on him, causing many bruises when he fell over and little sleep.  
  
He looked at Harry's face and saw the hesitant scared face staring back. "You're lucky that I'm too tired to be bothered giving you any punishment!"  
  
Harry smiled. 


	25. Miss You

Thank you to Lady Lightning, NightSpear, Kemenran, Barbara, luna699, Rickman's Girl, ShortySC22, sev1970, huldufolknr1, SparkySparkles, Jay, Berkeley, angeL_1215, Ms. Padfoot, litine, palanmenel, Teigra, Fire'N'Ice, beyond infinity, arcee, Them Girl, Kat19, Calani, Kyra, Alexial, Lokia, Quis, Shinigami06 and selua for reviewing! You are all so great! You all make my day!   
  
Okay, just letting you know that Harry's 1st year is coming up really soon.  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 25 - Miss You  
  
"Thank you for coming Severus."  
  
"That is fine Albus, is there a problem?"  
  
"Not at all, take a seat"  
  
Severus studied the man and he didn't seem upset about anything, he took that as a good thing and took a seat.  
  
"Then why did you call me up early before the meeting with the rest of the professors is to start?"  
  
"I wanted to talk to you about Harry."  
  
"Harry?"  
  
"He is getting too far ahead in his classes"  
  
"What's wrong with him being ahead?"  
  
"Nothing, but I'm not sure Harry realizes what it will mean if he continues with the way he is going."  
  
"I think I quite understand Albus"  
  
"Severus, Harry has already proved he knows quite a lot of magic. Not only has he performed magic using your wand, but he was able to make that potion with Mr. Weasley in the holidays, he showed extreme knowledge with understanding what would result in if two potions were mixed. Now he is already a smart boy, but if he keeps going he will end up leaving all those behind his own age, he may have to skip classes. There would be no point making him sit through classes where he already has learnt it all."  
  
"I-"  
  
"He needs to have more fun Severus, he is still a child."  
  
"Well what can I do? I teach here... unless you are trying to tell me to leave...?"  
  
"No, no nothing like that."  
  
"Well then what?"  
  
"I have asked Molly and she has agreed to let Harry stay there."  
  
"What do you mean stay there?  
  
"Just through the week, on weekends Harry will come back here."  
  
Severus was slightly uncomfortable with this, he had grown to like having Harry around.  
  
"I'm sorry but I couldn't ask Molly to do that."  
  
"She has made her wishes known, she says that it feels empty at her house now, especially now that Fred and George are gone, which if they act anything like they do here then I would understand her."  
  
"What would he do there?"  
  
"Play, have fun. He and Ron get along very well, he would enjoy it there. Besides, no doubt you could use a small break from each other for short periods of time."  
  
"I really don't know-"  
  
"If Harry needs you, you are only a fire away. He will be fine."  
  
"I'm not worried about that Albus, I'm worried about the fact that Harry and Ron are going to be together five days a week, do you realize how much trouble they will probably find themselves in!"  
  
Dumbledore chuckled.  
  
Any further talk was cut off as the other professors made their way into the room.  
  
***  
  
"Have you got everything Harry?"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"Are you're s-"  
  
"Dad!" Harry interrupted.  
  
"Okay, it just doesn't look like much..."  
  
"I've checked 3 times, I'm not leaving for a year, it doesn't take that long or much room to pack a few clothes and stuff. Stop worrying. Besides, if I have forgotten anything I'll just quickly floo back here."  
  
Severus sighed.  
  
"Alright, come on, I'll drop you off. I want to have a few words with Ron's mother about any misbehaving you and Ron find yourself in. Don't think that just because I am not there, that I will not punish you for any misbehaving."  
  
Harry rolled his eyes and threw some floo powder into the fire that they had, yelling "The Burrow".  
  
After what seemed like ages, the trip finally ended and Harry flew out of the fireplace, only to knock into someone that had obviously been waiting for him.  
  
"Oy, Harry, get off me!" Ron yelled pushing Harry away from him.  
  
"Good to see you too Ron"  
  
Harry laughed as Ron stuck his tongue at him.  
  
They were both pulled out of there laughter as someone grabbed both of them from the front of their jumpers and pulled then onto their feet.  
  
"Thanks Dad..." Harry said distractedly, he hadn't even heard him come through.  
  
Harry watched as Molly came over and then hugged him tightly.  
  
"It's so good to see you Harry"  
  
"You too Mrs. Weasley"  
  
She smiled at him.  
  
"Ron, why don't you help Harry get settled in while I talk to Harry's father."  
  
Ron nodded and took Harry up to his room where there was an extra bed in there for him.  
  
"This is so cool, we are going to have so much fun!"  
  
Harry nodded and then gestured for Ron to follow him.  
  
They snuck out of the room and slowly went down the stairs. They stopped when they could see Severus and Molly talking, and they sat down on the stair that they were on, listening to what they were saying.  
  
"Mrs Weasley-"  
  
"Molly"  
  
"Oh, right, Molly. I just wanted to tell you that I am thankful to you and Mr- Arthur for doing this. I really appreciate it and I know Harry does. I want you to know that if Harry finds himself in any trouble, if he does anything wrong, I would like you to contact immediately."  
  
"Oh stop worrying, he will be fine. In all my past experiences Harry has been the perfect child."  
  
Ron snorted and Harry elbowed him in the ribs.  
  
"Right, well I best be off. So just get Harry to floo back on Saturday morning, and remind him to say 'Hogwart's Dungeon.' It will able him to arrive in a fire near my rooms."  
  
"Of course"  
  
"Oh, and the living expenses for having Harry-"  
  
"I hope you are not offering money here Severus because if you are I will kindly have to as you to stick that money right up..."  
  
Harry and Ron sat in shock at what they had just heard Mrs, Weasley say, their mouths were wide open.  
  
Severus laughed.  
  
"Well when you put it that way..."  
  
"HARRY!" Molly yelled.  
  
Harry and Ron quickly snuck back upstairs and then loudly ran down them again.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Your father is leaving now."  
  
"Oh, bye Dad!" Harry quickly hugged his father.  
  
"Bye Harry, and don't forget to-"  
  
"Behave, don't get in trouble and be polite." Harry recited in a voice that was familiar to his fathers.  
  
His father smiled, ruffled his hair and then left.  
  
***  
  
The next morning Harry woke up and headed down for breakfast. The day proceeded with him and Ron helping Mrs. Weasley clean, de-gnome the garden and them just mucking around. He was having a lot of fun.  
  
***  
  
A couple of days after Severus had dropped Harry off, he was sitting in his room, the silence was almost overwhelming, but it was something he would have to get used to. Not only would Harry be away for five days a week, but once Harry started school, Severus would most likely only see him during class and meals. He felt a small sense of loss. He may have only had Harry for 4years, but they had hardly spent over a few days away from each other. He felt like he was slowly losing his only son.  
  
***  
  
Harry, Ron and Ginny spent the whole day de-gnoming the garden. They were all completely worn out when they went back inside to have dinner.  
  
"Hey Harry? What to play a game of chess? Who knows, you might win this time"  
  
"Ron, since I have been here we have played at least ten games of chess, have I once been even close to beating you?"  
  
"I guess not... but this time might be different."  
  
Harry sighed and then grabbed the chess board next to him and placed it in- between Ron and himself.  
  
***  
  
Half way through dinner Ron was explaining to his dad about how he beat Harry in the last game of chess they played.  
  
Harry was pretending that he was listening, but he was really staring off into space.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Are you okay?" Ron asked  
  
"What? Oh yeah, sure. I'm fine, just thinking."  
  
"What were you thinking about?"  
  
"My dad, wondering what he is doing now."  
  
"Well that's not hard, he's probably making a potion." Ron replied  
  
"Or giving George and Fred detention." Ginny added.  
  
"Ginny!"  
  
"What? Mum, it's only been a few weeks and you have already had three owls from Dumbledore!"  
  
Molly sighed.  
  
"You know Harry, if you want you can go back tonight, it wouldn't make much difference, just one night."  
  
"Yeah, that would give me enough time to get that itching powder and put it on your bed for when you come back next week!" Ron said happily.  
  
Harry lightly punched Ron on the arm and smiled guiltily at Molly and Arthur afterwards.  
  
"Yeah, I think I will go back tonight, if you are sure that's alright with you."  
  
"Course it is dear, go get whatever you need and you can leave a bit after dinner."  
  
"Thanks Mrs. Weasley."  
  
***  
  
Harry came out of the fireplace covered in soot. He was grateful that Ron's mum had reminded him to say the Dungeon part, he was so tired that he wasn't sure if he could walk all the way to the dungeons if he ended up on the other side of the castle.  
  
He muttered the password and staggered through the doorway.  
  
"Harry? What are you doing here? I thought you weren't going to be here until tomorrow?" His father looked worried at seeing him there.  
  
"Missed you..." Harry mumbled as he collapsed next to his father on the couch and fell asleep instantly, leaning against his father's chest.  
  
Severus felt himself smile as he heard what Harry had said, it was just what he needed to hear. 


	26. Dinner Anyone?

Thank you to Sever Us, Calani, CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur, angeL_1215, Ms. Padfoot, Vulcaine7, Corgi, Psychomek, Kateri, Jeanne, Littletiger, Barbara, Kemenran, huldufolknr1, Nilboriel, Alexial, arcee, ShortySC22, SeverusShadow, SparkySparkles, Fire'N'Ice, Jay, Lady Lightning, ryleeblack, Kyra, palanmenel, Them Girl, Teigra and abigfan for reviewing!  
  
I have already decided what house Harry shall be in, and I know a few people, if not a lot want something different to what I have decided, as I have had people already asking me for Harry to be in a certain house. I will stand by my decision and keep going. You will all find out what it is next chapter!  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 26 - Dinner Anyone?  
  
Harry was going back to Hogwarts to help his father pack everything that they would need from their rooms to take back to Snape Manor. Harry had had a lot of fun and happy times with the Weasleys. He was sad that he wouldn't be over there as much anymore. It was now the school holidays and he would be staying with his father, and after that he would be starting his first year at Hogwarts.  
  
But Harry still felt sad, he had gotten very close to the whole family. Ron's brothers were like his own brothers, and Ginny was like his sister, Molly was like a mother to him and Arthur was like a second father. It had taken them a lot of time, but Harry finally referred to Ron's parents by their given names.  
  
But on the last day Harry would spend at the Weasley home for a while, Harry and Ron were intent on having as much fun as possible. The whole day they joked, played games and mucked around.  
  
Mrs. Weasley was only too happy to let them play, as Harry was bound to want to spend a lot of time with his father before school started.  
  
"Hey Harry, will you be on the train when school starts?" Ron asked as they lay on the grass out in the sun, looking up at the sky and passing clouds.  
  
"Yeah, dad says that because I won't get to experience seeing Hogwarts and being at the sorting for the first time with everybody else, that I can experience the Hogwarts train ride there instead. So I have to go from Hogwarts, to platform 9 ¾ just so I can go to Hogwarts again. If you ask me, I reckon he just wants to get rid of me for a few hours!" Harry joked.  
  
"That's good; I can sit with you on the train then."  
  
"Yeah, I heard the train ride is fun, I guess when you are away from both parents and most of the professors for a small while, it would be fun, plus you can do magic on there and not get in trouble."  
  
Ron nodded. "When are you going to get your wand?"  
  
"Dad is taking me later on, we should meet up."  
  
"Yeah"  
  
They sat silent for a few moments, watching the clouds pass.  
  
"Ron, I need to ask you something."  
  
"Sure, what is it?"  
  
"I've been having this funny feeling lately."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, a feeling"  
  
"What feeling?"  
  
"A bad feeling, like something bad is going to happen soon."  
  
"Have you told your dad?"  
  
"No, I mean it is most likely just me... I don't think I have gone this long without something bad happening to me."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm just being paranoid, just forget I said anything."  
  
"If you're sure..."  
  
***  
  
"Severus, is there a problem?" Dumbledore asked as Severus walked into his office.  
  
Severus remained quiet, just pacing in front of the fire. After a few minutes he finally stopped and turned to face Dumbledore who was waiting patiently.  
  
"Albus, what house do you believe Harry will end up in?"  
  
"Does it really matter what house Harry ends up in?"  
  
"No, of course it doesn't. I just wanted to know your opinion."  
  
"Well, my opinion is..." Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and brought his hand up to his chin, he began thinking out loud. "Well after being abused by his family, Harry rarely gives his trust and when he does, he is very loyal to them... so maybe Hufflepuff? But then Harry is very smart, always reading and wanting to learn new things, so perhaps Ravenclaw... What about Slytherin? You have raised him since he was 5 years old, something is bound to rub off on him correct? Or possibly Gryffindor, He has shown bravery and courage on many occasions, one being when he pulled Ron out of the way when the wolf attacked them in the forbidden forest, putting his life at risk to save Mr. Weasley..." Dumbledore trailed off, still thinking but in his head this time.  
  
"So which one is your answer then Albus?"  
  
"Severus, believe it or not, I do not know."  
  
"Well you just left me with more questions then answers."  
  
"I think Severus, that deep down you know that Harry will have to make a choice, and I believe you know what choice that he will make is."  
  
Severus didn't say anything and for a while nothing was said.  
  
"What time do you need to pick Harry up?"  
  
"Just after dinner"  
  
"Are you to join them?"  
  
"No, they offered but I declined. Harry will be seeing enough of me through the holidays, I thought he might like to spend some time with them by himself."  
  
"Well then, you and I can eat dinner up here tonight."  
  
"Really Albus, I couldn't-"  
  
"Nonsense, now what would you like?"  
  
***  
  
Harry had never eaten so much food in his life, he felt like he ate 3 times the amount of food that could fit him his stomach.  
  
All the Weasleys had been amazed by the amount of cooking Mrs. Weasley had done, and everyone there had eaten more then they should have.  
  
When Severus came to pick Harry up, he didn't look much better.  
  
Severus walked into the living room where Harry and Ron were currently sitting down, not moving.  
  
Severus collapsed next to Harry and breathed out. He did not feel well.  
  
"Are you okay Dad?"  
  
"Damn Albus, it's easy to eat what I want in the Great Hall, he watches over the students, but when it's just you and him, he watches what you eat like a hawk."  
  
Harry raised an eyebrow at him, not understanding.  
  
"Apparently, even though I am a fully grown man, I don't eat enough food, at least not enough to satisfy Albus. He made me eat much more then I would have liked. And you can just imagine how I felt flooing over here."  
  
Both Harry and Ron paled just thinking about it, all the spinning would be enough to make either of them sick.  
  
"Ah, Severus you're here. Would you like some desert I have left over?" Mrs. Weasley said as she walked through the living room and into the kitchen, not stopping for him to answer.  
  
"No Molly, that's alright. I'm not feeling too hungry." Severus quickly yelled over to her.  
  
"What was that dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she came out with a plateful of chocolate cake.  
  
Severus paled looking at it.  
  
Harry and Ron smiled at each other.  
  
"Go on Dad, Molly won't mind." Harry said innocently  
  
"Won't mind what?" Mrs. Weasley asked  
  
"Well, he didn't want to say anything but..." Harry trailed off, smiling at Severus' confused look that was directed to him.  
  
"But-" Ron continued "He was just telling us how hungry he was, we even heard his stomach grumble"  
  
Severus opened his mouth, about to protest but Harry cut him off.  
  
"It's true, I heard it as well, and it's probably because he skipped dinner. He always does, no matter how much he tries to deny it."  
  
"That's not true!" Severus said indignity  
  
"It's okay Dad, I'm sure Molly will give you some food if you ask her really nicely"  
  
Severus glared at Harry.  
  
"Molly, I did NOT miss dinner and I am NOT hungry."  
  
"Really Severus, skipping meals, I always did think you were too thin. Just think of the example you are setting Harry, now I'll be right back with some proper dinner."  
  
Mrs. Weasley the walked out and back into the kitchen.  
  
Harry and Ron laughed and quickly got out of the room and ran up to Ron's room before Severus could get to them, they were both feeling much better now.  
  
They were still laughing when Severus banged open the door and glared at them both.  
  
"I advice you laugh it up, once we are at Hogwarts I believe I will be having the last laugh."  
  
"Even if we are in Slytherin?"  
  
"Even if you are in bloody Slytherin, now hurry up Harry, I am tired and I would like to leave soon."  
  
"Sure, I'll just finish packing my things, did you want a chocolate frog while you wait?"  
  
Severus was about to reply to make a snide comment when Mr. Weasley interrupted him, which both Ron and Harry were grateful for as they could tell Severus was getting angrier now.  
  
"Hello Severus, boys, is anything wrong?"  
  
"Arthur" Severus nodded to him, glaring at both Harry and Ron. "I'll wait downstairs for you Harry."  
  
***  
  
Harry felt a bit bad about what Ron and he had done, Severus was currently making a complicated potion to try to calm down a bit.  
  
"Sorry about before Dad, Ron and I were just having some fun." Harry said as he walked over to his father and sat on a stool and looked into the cauldron.  
  
"Hmm" Severus still didn't look any happier.  
  
Harry thought about how he could make Severus less angry at him.  
  
"What potion are you making?" Anything to do with potions was probably a good way to go to get back onto his fathers good side.  
  
"Wolfsbane potion for Lupin"  
  
"Can I help?"  
  
Severus finally looked up from his work and could see that Harry was sorry for before.  
  
"You can cut up some ingredients for me."  
  
Harry smiled and set about doing as his father told him.  
  
After a while he let his mind wonder to the sorting that would take place September 1st.  
  
Harry had no problem with going into any house. He had no prejudices with any of them. But which house would he want to be in?  
  
Harry thought about his father, would it be a good thing to have his father as his head of house? It would mean that he would be closer to him, and if he did something wrong he would most likely only get punished once, if he was in a different house he would probably get punished by them AND his father.  
  
But then he thought about Ron and the Weasleys. Although Ron hadn't been sorted yet, he knew that he would go into Gryffindor with his brothers. Would Ron care if they weren't in the same house? Harry knew his father would be fine with whatever house Harry went in, even though he would probably prefer any of the other houses besides Gryffindor, but would Ron care? It would be difficult to keep up their friendship. They would have different common rooms, sleep in different dorms, they would eat at different tables and only be in a couple of classes together. The question was, would Harry be willing to give up another house just so he could continue his friendship with Ron? They were best friends, his first non- grown up friend he had ever had.  
  
Being in Slytherin house wouldn't make his father happy if he was un-happy in there... Harry was definitely confused. He was glad that the sorting hat would make the decision for him.  
  
***  
  
It was August 16th, Harry and his father were currently shopping around for all the things Harry would need for his first year at Hogwarts.  
  
They had just gotten Harry's wand, which was a holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches. When he had got it the owner of the shop had acted all weird. But Harry was only to glad to get out of the shop to care. He had gone through most of the wands in the whole store and was happy to finally be out.  
  
Harry was so delighted to have a wand, it was killing him to have it but not be able to use it. His father had warned him what could happen if he did and he was not about to be expelled for Hogwarts before he even began.  
  
Harry purchased his books which he was keen to look over. He already had an owl and his equipment. Ron was unable to meet Harry over at Diagon Alley so Harry and Severus left early. Harry kept checking that he had his wand, as though scared that it would just vanish all of a sudden.  
  
He couldn't help but feel excited about Hogwarts. He had waited so long to be able to join in and do the magic that he saw being done in the classes he sat in on, and it was only a few weeks until he began. 


	27. Are You Lost?

Thank you to CrazycheeseCake (My 500th reviewer!), Teigra, solar, litine, Old Fawkes, Kemenran, Ms. Padfoot, Barbara, Bob33, Nilboriel, Littletiger, SparkySparkles, arcee, Lady Lightning, Corgi, Fire'N'Ice, Kristine Thorne, ShortySC22, kitty25478, Ms. Issues, Swyrel, Innocent Dreamer, Lokia, Mikee, ryleeblack , angeL_1215, palanmenel, Them Girl, huldufolknr1, sela, Calani, Kyra, nooccar27, The Wolf of Were and Smilez for reviewing!  
  
Also thank you to the wonderful person who emailed me about this story and my other one, you really made my day!  
  
I didn't realize that that scene mentioned by angel_1215 with Severus and Dumbledore was similar to 'My Dad'. I in no way meant for it to be like that at all, and similarities are bound to happen. But I will try to make this one as different as I can, especially after this chapter. I already have a couple of nasty ideas up my sleeve. And for those who have no idea what I am talking about, it is 'My Dad' by Sever Us. A truly great story that a reviewer from this fic told me about. So if you haven't already read it, and you like this type of story line, then I suggest you go check it out!  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 27 - Are You Lost?  
  
Today was it, today was the day that Harry found out what house he was to be in. He felt excited and nervous at the same time. But looking around at the other 1st years, most of them looked scared out of their minds, even Ron looked scared and Harry had told him what to expect.  
  
Harry fiddled with the chain around his neck. It was a gift from Remus for his eleventh birthday. It had once been his fathers. Harry had already grown attached to it.  
  
Harry focused back to what Professor McGonagall was explaining. He found her speech extremely boring as he already knew everything she told them, but he remained polite and kept listening.  
  
After what seemed like an eternity she finally stopped talking and led them in front of the whole school to be sorted.  
  
"Hey Harry" Ron whispered a little while after the sorting had started.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Do you think we will be in the same house?"  
  
"Course we will Ron" Harry reassured Ron, immediately seeing him relax more.  
  
Harry turned his attention back to the sorting to see a boy with blonde hair take the hat off and walk in the direction of the Slytherin table.  
  
Not long after his own name was called.  
  
Harry walked over to the stool and sat on it. The last thing he saw before the hat was placed on his head and over his eyes was his father's reassuring smile from up at the head table.  
  
'My, my, what a talented mind Mr Potter, you would do well in any house. You have plenty of courage and a cunning mind. No doubt you would fit better in with either Slytherin or Gryffindor, but where to place you?'  
  
Harry was having trouble trying to decide which one he would rather go in, it was either go with Ron or go with his father. He had already decided before, well he had a pretty good idea, but now he was having doubts. He always thought the hat was the one to decide where he went.  
  
'Ah, I see you already have your mind set on one.'  
  
Harry couldn't agree less, he was more confused now then he was before.  
  
'He will understand Mr. Potter'  
  
Harry was left wondering what he meant as the hat yelled for all to hear "GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
***  
  
"Come on Ron, let's go see my dad"  
  
"But what about the password?"  
  
"I already know it, you go tell Percy, I'll go see if my dad is still around."  
  
Ron nodded and ran off after Percy.  
  
Once he caught up to him he spoke quickly. "Hey Perce, Harry and I are just going to see Professor Snape, but we know our way back and the password, so don't worry if we are a bit late okay." Ron ran off before his brother could say anything.  
  
Ron found Harry, who shook his head, indicating his father had already left.  
  
They made their way down out the door and only made it down two corridors before they saw someone, who looked oddly familiar to Harry, talking to a portrait that didn't look to be of any help to the person.  
  
They walked over to the figure, who obviously had heard them coming as they turned around to face them.  
  
"Hi, I'm Harry, and this is Ron."  
  
The boy's eyes open wide, obviously recognizing Harry, most likely from his scar.  
  
"Draco"  
  
"Nice to meet you Draco, so why aren't you with the rest of your house?"  
  
"I could ask you the same question"  
  
"Ron and I are just heading down to see my dad."  
  
"Oh" Draco answered, his eyebrow raised by what Harry had just said.  
  
"What were you doing?" Ron asked suspiciously.  
  
"I was walking back from sending an owl to my father if you must know; I didn't realize that was such a crime here!" Draco glared at him.  
  
"It's not, Ron was just asking. Are you lost or something?"  
  
"No I am not lost" the boy snapped.  
  
Harry was unfazed by his tone, always hearing it in his father's voice  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"What makes you so damned sure that I am lost?"  
  
"You're in Slytherin right?"  
  
"Yes" the boy answered proudly. "What has that got to do with anything?"  
  
"Well the Owlery isn't too far from the Slytherin common rooms, and you are all the way near the Great Hall, my guess is you took a few wrong turns to end up here."  
  
Draco glared at them both.  
  
"I can show you the way if you would like?"  
  
"I think I can find my own way thanks." Draco growled.  
  
Draco then headed down a corridor, only to be stopped by Harry's voice.  
  
"Okay then, but you might want to go down this corridor." Draco turned to see Harry pointing down a different corridor to which he was currently walking down.  
  
When Draco still hadn't moved Harry stepped closer towards him.  
  
"Look, Ron and I are heading down this way anyway, so why not accompany us?"  
  
Draco's shoulders slumped in defeat and he started walking with Harry and Ron, but he remained quiet.  
  
After a few minutes of silence Harry decided to break it.  
  
"So what do you think of Hogwarts?"  
  
"It's a load of confusing corridors and it's too big to be able to find anything!" Draco said in a rush before he could stop himself, as soon as he did though a pink tinge went to his checks and he looked at the ground.  
  
Harry laughed.  
  
"I know what you mean, when I first came here I was 5, I ran off and got lost. I was looking for the front doors to get out, I ended up in the Owlery."  
  
Ron laughed.  
  
Harry was happy to see Draco had a small smile on his face as well.  
  
"Yeah, I first came here when I was 6 or 7, and I lost Harry. I was so freaked out by the portraits. I have seen pictures that move and stuff, but it freaked me out when the portraits started talking to me. It didn't help that Peeves was teasing me and following me around, telling me to go down the wrong corridors." Ron said.  
  
"Peeves?" Draco asked.  
  
"A ghost, a really annoying ghost at that! Just remember not to take any notice of him if you see him."  
  
Draco nodded. "What is Professor Snape like?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"As a teacher, is he nice?"  
  
Ron started laughing at that and Harry had to elbow him in the ribs to shut him up.  
  
"Oh, well you're in Slytherin so he will be nice to you."  
  
Draco nodded again. "My father doesn't like him much."  
  
"Most people don't."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"That my friend is a complicated question, and one we do not have time to answer if we were planning on getting any sleep tonight."  
  
"Yeah, I mean he is really scary most of the time-" Ron was cut off by Harry snorting.  
  
"Hey, he is! Just because you seem to be immune to it because you are so used to it, doesn't mean he doesn't scare the rest of us. Anyway, he can be really scary, but underneath he is a pretty decent guy."  
  
"Thank you Mr. Weasley for your kind words." Severus said sarcastically, making them all jump.  
  
Ron and Draco had their hands over their hearts and Harry just smiled at his father once they realized who it was that had spoke,  
  
"Now may I ask why you are all out of bed? It is only your first day; you don't want to start out of negative points now do you?"  
  
"Sorry Professor" Harry said, remembering that now school had started that he had to call him that, unless they were alone. "Ron and I were coming down to talk to you and we found Draco lost so we were showing him the way to the Slytherin common rooms."  
  
"Very well, I will accompany you all."  
  
As they started walking Harry continued to talk.  
  
"We were just telling Draco about our first times in this castle."  
  
"Yes. I believe in both I was the one that spent a good few hours searching for you both."  
  
Ron and Harry smiled guilty.  
  
"What about you professor?" Ron asked.  
  
"What about me?"  
  
"Did you ever get lost when you first came here?"  
  
Severus glared darkly at Ron, who had asked the question.  
  
Harry laughed. "So you did. Now you can't keep using the fact that we got lost against us!"  
  
"Perhaps... But I'm sure I could still use the time that you-"  
  
Harry quickly cut him off, knowing what he was about to say already.  
  
"We're here."  
  
They all looked to see they had reached a stretch of bare, damp stone wall.  
  
Severus said the password and a stone door concealed in the wall opened.  
  
Severus walked Draco in to show him to his dorms.  
  
"Bye Draco" Harry and Ron yelled just before they were out of sight, receiving a scowl from Severus for yelling when most people were in bed.  
  
Draco nodded his head to them but that was all.  
  
A few minutes later Severus came back out and lead Harry and Ron to his rooms.  
  
Once they were all sitting down and warm, Harry began to talk.  
  
"So what do you think about me in Gryffindor?"  
  
"I think that maybe I should let up a bit on Gryffindor in class now."  
  
"Why? Cause we will now be in your class?"  
  
"No, because with you both always getting into so much mischief, I think you will probably lose enough points for Gryffindor without my help."  
  
Both Ron and Harry pretended to look shocked and hurt by what Severus said but the devious smiles on their faces gave them away.  
  
Severus shook his head at them both, but he still smiled.  
  
"I must admit that I never thought you would be helping Draco Malfoy out."  
  
Harry's mouth dropped open.  
  
"Are you alright Harry?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine." Harry replied a bit distractedly.  
  
"Malfoy? As in Lucius Malfoy?" Ron asked, Harry had told him about what Lucius Malfoy had done.  
  
Severus nodded. "Draco is Lucius' son"  
  
"I thought he looked familiar." Harry said, thinking back to when he first saw him talking to the portrait.  
  
"You didn't know?" Severus asked  
  
"I didn't catch his name at the sorting."  
  
"Yes, I did look at you both to see if either of you were going to have any reaction to the name, but I of course saw you both chatting away, just like a bunch of gossiping school girls." Severus said shaking his head at the thought.  
  
Harry ignored his father's over exaggeration of him and Ron talking, but Ron was looking quite outraged by it.  
  
"Well that is certainly an insight to him, now knowing what his father is like." Harry finally answered.  
  
"Harry, you shouldn't judge him based on what his father is like. Take a look at my father, I like to think I turned out better then he did... Well eventually I did." Severus said, thinking back to his Death Eater days.  
  
"Well I never thought of it like that, I guess you're right."  
  
"Course I am, now while you are here there is another thing I wanted to discuss with you."  
  
"Yes"  
  
"How would you feel about taking advanced Potion lessons with me?"  
  
"Advanced Potion lessons!" Harry gasped  
  
"Yes, you are definitely capable of it and you already know all the first years' potions, plus most likely the second and third years."  
  
"So I wouldn't have to go to potions then if I did it?" Harry asked a bit hesitantly.  
  
"That would be the idea."  
  
"So where would I go in that time, because we wouldn't be able to have our lesson then since you would be teaching."  
  
"Well if we had this Advanced potion session, it would be at night time, so theoretically you would spend that time catching up on work you couldn't do before, either in the library or your common room."  
  
"How often a week would we have to do it?"  
  
"Two or three, I haven't decided yet."  
  
"Would I get homework?"  
  
"Sometimes, yes"  
  
Harry looked thoughtful for a moment.  
  
"I guess..."  
  
"Wait, so you're just going to leave me alone to face your dad in class!" Ron said dreadfully.  
  
Harry smiled and Severus mock glared at Ron.  
  
"Sorry Ron, but I can give you all the answers for your homework to make it up to you."  
  
Ron laughed at Harry and Severus tried to cuff him on the back of the head, but Harry was too fast and ducked.  
  
"Well we better go, it's getting late."  
  
"Yes, if you need anything, my rooms are always open."  
  
"Really... Does that include your potion ingredients as well?"  
  
Severus made a grab at Harry's arm but Harry and Ron were already gone. 


	28. A New Introduction

Thank you to Corgi, athenakitty, Innocent Dreamer, Kemenran, litine, Teigra, SparkySparkles, Calani, CrazycheeseCake, ShortySC22, ranger, Lady Lightning, solar, Nagini: c r i m s o n, Fire'N'Ice, JerseyPike, palanmenel, Beldin325, ~WolfMoon~, Kristine Thorne, huldufolknr1, Shinigami06, Iniysa, TimI, Ms. Padfoot, Barbara, Them Girl, CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur, ryleeblack, abigfan, Mikee, Sylvanus Snape, firelizard_720, soul and Kyra for reviewing!  
  
Exams are coming up really soon for me, so I'm not sure how long I can keep updating like this, but I will try to get as many as I can out...  
  
Also I got an email the other day asking about Draco and Harry, well I already mentioned this earlier but I will do so again. This fic is not a Slash. There will be no Slash parings in it. Also I'm not sure what parings will happen, but I do know that it is only Harry's 1st year, give him a break will ya!  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 28 - A New Introduction  
  
Harry was so tired, he had just finished his last class of the week which ended up being Potions with his father. He was surprised that he found it mildly interesting. In most of the classes he sat in on when he was younger, he found them to be quite boring. But his lessons with his father were proving to be a lot more interesting then he had thought. Though as interesting as they were, they wore him out a lot, and right now he just collapsed into his bed falling straight to sleep.  
  
He didn't know if it was the fumes that he may have breathed in from the potions he had made or what, but Harry was currently having the strangest dream he had ever had.  
  
He saw two men crouched over a very big cauldron. One looked vaguely familiar and one he had never seen before.  
  
They were talking and Harry held his breath so he could hear them. The slightest movement he made seemed to be ten times louder then normal.  
  
"Did you bring the blood?" the man that seemed familiar to Harry asked, he was wearing a large cloak with a hood covering most of his face. But something about the voice just clicked with Harry.  
  
"Y-ye-ss" The other man answered. He was very small, slightly overweight, he had a pointed nose and very small eyes. Something about him made Harry dislike him then and there.  
  
"And you are sure you dumped the body where nobody will find it? We don't need anyone asking questions." The man sounded as though he doubted the other man could have done anything right.  
  
"O-of Course." The small man looked nervous but didn't back away as the other man advanced on him.  
  
"You better hope so" The familiar man said dangerously, he roughly grabbed the vial out of the small man's outstretched hand and emptied it into the cauldron.  
  
He began muttering words and adding something else but the picture before Harry started fading and he could feel a sharp pain going through his scar.  
  
Finally Harry awake from the pain, barely managing to stop a gasp from escaping his mouth.  
  
He could hear his heart rate speeding up, in fact it was so loud he was sure everyone else in the dorm was going to wake up soon.  
  
He looked at his watch that was beside his bed and decided that it wasn't too early to get up. Though he would have to wait to tell his father about the dream, it may not be too early to get up, but it was definitely too early to wake his father up.  
  
But then Harry wondered if he should tell his father. It was definitely a strange dream, and it was probably just that, a dream.  
  
He just needed to calm down and clear his head and think about the bizarre dream that he just had and why it had caused his scar to hurt. Dumbledore had once told him that it was because of his connection with Voldemort, but what he saw wasn't Voldemort... right?  
  
Harry quickly got changed and headed down to the Owlery. That always seemed to help calm him down.  
  
***  
  
Harry sat on the window seal, looking out at the view and enjoying the calming feeling it was having on him. Owl was on his knee and he continued to stroke her and she cooed at him.  
  
After it started to get later in the morning and breakfast was sure to be over soon Harry got up and was almost out the door before he collided with someone who was entering the Owlery.  
  
As he got up he saw that the exact person he had bumped into was in fact Draco Malfoy.  
  
Harry hadn't had a chance to talk to Draco since the night of the Welcoming Feast. It had been a busy week for both of them.  
  
"Hi Draco"  
  
"Harry." Draco answered while dusting himself off.  
  
"So Draco, what did you think of your first week of school? You didn't get lost again did you?" Harry smiled at Draco as he rolled his eyes.  
  
"No I didn't get lost."  
  
Draco then walked past Harry and over to one of the school owls, attaching a letter to it and whispering something in its ear.  
  
"So I guess you just sent a letter to someone?" Draco asked, his back still turned to Harry as he watched the owl fly off, but knowing Harry still hadn't left.  
  
"Actually I was just here to see my owl."  
  
"Which one is it?"  
  
Before Harry could reply Owl flew down and landed on his shoulder as if sensing she should come back.  
  
"Here she is"  
  
"Cool... what is her name?"  
  
"Well... it's Owl"  
  
"You named your owl Owl?" Draco smirked at Harry.  
  
"Yes... well, who were you writing to?"  
  
"I wanted to owl my father."  
  
"Do you get along with him?"  
  
Draco shrugged. "He's my father, so how come you aren't having breakfast with everyone else? You didn't have it earlier because I would have seen you."  
  
"I had a lot to think about..." Harry noticed that Draco changed the subject but let it drop.  
  
"Yeah, like what?"  
  
"Do you tell your dad everything?"  
  
"Depends what it is, why?"  
  
"I'm trying to decide whether or not to tell my dad something."  
  
"Well is it important?"  
  
"I don't know, it could be and if I don't tell him and he finds out I knew then he will be disappointed that I didn't tell him. But it could also be nothing."  
  
"Can you tell me what it is?" Draco asked, not really knowing how to answer without knowing what Harry was talking about.  
  
"It's just... I don't know, it's probably nothing."  
  
"Well, if you tell him then it can't come back to bite you later on." Draco replied logically.  
  
"Well that's true. But if I tell him he might overreact."  
  
"Well whatever you do, you won't be able to do it now."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well breakfast is going to end soon and if you don't make an appearance Ron and Professor Snape are probably going to worry."  
  
"You're probably right. Why don't you come?"  
  
"I've already had breakfast."  
  
"So have some more?"  
  
Draco snorted.  
  
"No thanks Potter, but maybe another time."  
  
Harry smiled. "I might have to take you up on that sometime."  
  
***  
  
After breakfast Harry told Ron he was going into the library and that was enough to make his friend turn down an invitation to join him.  
  
When he arrived in there he found that the library was very much empty, after all it was only the first week. There was only two other people in there, one was Madam Pince, and the other was a bushy brown haired girl that he recognized as also being a Gryffindor first year.  
  
He turned back to the task at hand and began to look for what might have caused his scar to hurt. Or maybe what the dream was about. Maybe he could find out the reason without having to go to his father or Dumbledore.  
  
After three solid hours Harry still hadn't found anything. Apparently cursed scars weren't very common at all.  
  
He looked up as he heard the girl sigh and hit her head against the table. He thought about just continuing with what he was doing but he decided to welcome the break and talk to her and find out why she was spending so much time in the library as he was.  
  
Harry walked over to her and realized he hadn't even introduced himself before to her before.  
  
"Hi I'm Harry"  
  
The girl looked up and smiled at him.  
  
"Hi Harry, I'm Hermione."  
  
"Is there a problem?" Harry asked as he sat down next to her at the table.  
  
"I'm writing an essay for Professor Snape and I can't find the properties for wormwood."  
  
"Is that what you have so far?" Harry asked pointing to the many pages of writing she had in front of her.  
  
"Yes"  
  
"I didn't realize it had to be so long. I helped Ron with his and he said it only had to be three feet, in fact, I didn't think it had anything to do with wormwood."  
  
"Oh it doesn't, I was just adding in some extra things, it's only really meant to be three feet."  
  
Harry thought back to all the times he had heard his father go on and on about students blabbering on and drifting off subject. He always seemed to mark them down on things like that.  
  
"I would recommend you stick to the limit, Professor Snape doesn't like people who go over it, and he doesn't give extra marks for it or anything."  
  
"How would you- of right, of course." Hermione blushed a bit and looked away.  
  
"Well I better get back to doing what I was doing before." Harry turned to go but heard her talk to him again.  
  
"Do you need any help? I'm just about finished here."  
  
Harry wondered if he could trust her, he hadn't told anyone about his scar hurting so far. But he felt that he could trust her and he knew she was very smart.  
  
"Sure, that would be great."  
  
So Harry waited for her to pack up her things and join him at the table he had been accumulating before.  
  
He told her about his dream and his scar, also what Dumbledore had told him before about the connection, and Hermione spent the whole time listening and asking him useful questions that he himself hadn't thought of before.  
  
They spent a good two more hours in the library before the words started to blur together and they started to feel sick just looking at the books. Harry doubted he would find anything more useful then what he already had found, which was nothing at all. His only choice was to now go to his father about it, well either that or ignore it. But Harry didn't think that would be such a great idea.  
  
They both dragged themselves up to dinner and sleepily ate the food in front of them. They were both exhausted from reading so much.  
  
Harry decided that he would tell his father about his dream the next day, he was far to tired to be having a serious conversation with his father.  
  
***  
  
Harry was having a nice dreamless sleep when he felt himself being shaken awake in the early hours of the morning.  
  
He opened his eyes to find Ron staring at him.  
  
"What?" Harry asked grudgingly.  
  
"The map!"  
  
"What?" Harry asked again, sitting up more and putting his glasses on to get a better look at Ron.  
  
"Can you believe we forgot about the map?"  
  
"What map?"  
  
"The Marauder's Map!"  
  
Harry's eyes lit up as he remembered it. He jumped out of bed and over to his truck, moving things aside until he found what he was looking for.  
  
Harry smiled evilly at Ron. "We are going to have so much fun"  
  
"What should we do?"  
  
"Well I think we should wait for a while, let everybody settle in before we decide to do anything yet."  
  
Ron nodded in agreement, ideas already flowing through his head of what they could do.  
  
"Fred and George are going to be so jealous when we pull all these really cool pranks. They always get caught for sneaking out and stuff, but with the map we will have no problem."  
  
They spent the rest of the morning, day and night planning and thinking of possible ideas for future pranks.  
  
Harry completely forgot to tell his father about his dream. 


	29. A Rat

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A Different Life  
  
Chapter 29 - A Rat  
  
It was during Harry's next advanced Potion lesson that he remembered his dream. Well remembered he had a dream, some of the details were a bit foggy since he left it so long to tell his father.  
  
"Dad..."  
  
"Hmmm..." His father answered distractedly  
  
"The other night I had a dream-"  
  
"What!" His father looked up from the cauldron abruptly, a slightly alarmed look showing on his face.  
  
"No, not that type of dream." Harry quickly said, shuddering as he thought about the past 'dreams' that he had had where he was forced to re-live situations where he was abused by the Dursleys.  
  
"Then what type of dream?"  
  
Harry now had his father's full attention, so it was best to get straight to the point while he still had it.  
  
"I'm not really sure what it was about, it seemed more real then a dream. I saw two men. They were standing over a cauldron and they were saying something about blood. I can't really remember. There was something about a body in there as well."  
  
"Did you recognize the men?"  
  
"One seemed familiar but I'm not sure."  
  
"What did they look like?"  
  
"I can't remember" Harry saw that his father was about to scold him for not remembering such detail so he quickly continued on. "But it was really dark."  
  
"How long ago was the dream?"  
  
Harry counted the days, scrunching his face up as he thought.  
  
"The night after our last Potion lesson" Harry replied hesitantly, hoping that his father wouldn't be mad he had left it so long.  
  
His father didn't say anything, just nodded, but did look a bit put out.  
  
"Is there anything else?"  
  
"Well, when I woke up... my scar hurt."  
  
Harry looked away at his father's obvious anger.  
  
"Your scar hurt! Why didn't you come straight to me or even Albus?"  
  
"I- it didn't hurt that much. Besides I don't think you would have appreciated me waking you up at-"  
  
"I don't care what the time was Harry, you still should have come to me."  
  
Harry looked at the ground. "I'm sorry da-"  
  
"Has this happened before?"  
  
Harry quickly looked up and into his father's eyes, shaking his head to show that it was the truth.  
  
His father sighed placing his hands on his hips, seemingly thinking about what he should do,  
  
"I want you to promise me that no matter what the hour is, if you have another dream I want you to come straight down here and tell me. Even if your scar didn't hurt, if it is unusual in anyway come see me right away okay."  
  
Harry nodded and then looked back at the ground, scolding himself for forgetting to not only tell his father, but forgetting a lot of the things that actually happened in the dream.  
  
"It's getting late, you should head back before McGonagall has my head for keeping you out late."  
  
Harry nodded and packed up his stuff, dumping his unfinished potion.  
  
"I'll walk you to Gryffindor Tower."  
  
Harry opened his mouth to object, feeling old enough to walk back by himself but was stopped as his father held up his hand.  
  
"I am heading that way anyway as I need to have a talk with Albus." His father gave him a pointed glare that made him look away.  
  
"Okay..."  
  
They both walked back in silence, biding each other goodnight as Harry walked through the Portrait hole.  
  
***  
  
It was now the middle of November and Harry hadn't had another dream since, he sometimes woke up with a fuzzy feeling in his head but nothing more.  
  
Dumbledore had asked to talk to him about his dream, but he didn't have any answers.  
  
But Harry had more important things to worry about, like his up and coming prank with Ron. They were way overdue in doing one. But for now they were very excited about seeing the first Quidditch game of the season. It was Gryffindor vs. Slytherin.  
  
McGonagall had wanted him to try out for Seeker as she had seen him fly many times before. But he had reluctantly turned her down, feeling that it wouldn't be fair that he receive special treatment above the other first years. He would simply have to try out with everyone else in his second year.  
  
But he was beginning to really regret that decision. The seeker they had gotten instead was not being much use. They had gone with a Seventh year and she was absolutely hopeless. Harry was cringing at some of the obvious mistakes that she was making.  
  
It was a given that Slytherin would win and Harry was right, after only 20 minutes the Slytherin Seeker caught the snitch.  
  
Harry could see his father smirking at him and Harry rolled his eyes.  
  
***  
  
It was just before Christmas that Harry had another dream. A dream that made him struggle for air, a dream that made his heart die and beat so fast at the same time that Harry gasped.  
  
The pain he was feeling in his scar took a backseat to the shock of what he had seen in that one dream.  
  
He had seen Voldemort.  
  
Harry took little comfort in the fact that he seemed very weak, all he knew was that he was alive.  
  
Another thing that happened in the dream then struck Harry, making him run over to Ron's bed.  
  
"Ron! Ron wake up!" Harry began to shake him roughly when he didn't seem anywhere near waking up.  
  
"Wha?" Ron asked dumbly, rubbing his eyes and sitting up more  
  
"Ron, what happened to Scabbers after... well you know."  
  
"You woke me up to ask me-"  
  
"Ron!"  
  
"Alright, alright, he got run over?"  
  
"Yeah I already know that, what happened to him after that."  
  
"Dad buried him of course. Now can I go back-"  
  
"Did you see Scabbers before your dad buried him?"  
  
"Merlin Harry, why would I have wanted to see him? Dad got him real good. As soon as he saw what happened he quickly buried him so none of us could see."  
  
"So it may not have been Scabbers correct."  
  
"Harry, I highly doubt that dad got it wrong. What is wrong with you? Why are you asking me all this?"  
  
"Please Ron, just trust me. Is it possible that your dad got it wrong? That it may not have been Scabbers?"  
  
Ron sighed and sat up on his bed more. "Fine, yes there is some chance, even if it is so small that it barely exists that dad got a different rat and mistook it for Scabbers, it did happen at night-" Ron glared at Harry as he again cut him off.  
  
"Thank you Ron!" Harry quickly said, grabbing a coat that he had chucked on the floor from the previous day and then ran out of the room and out of Gryffindor Tower.  
  
***  
  
Harry was running so fast down the corridors at the extremely early hours of the morning that he ran straight into someone, which happened to be Remus, just who he was about to go find.  
  
"Harry? What are you doing up? Is everything okay?"  
  
"Remus, come with me." Harry barely got the words out as he started to run towards the dungeons this time.  
  
As Harry entered his father's chambers he left the door open for Remus to enter when he caught up and ran into his father's bedroom, banging open the door so loud that that in itself was enough to wake his father up.  
  
"Harry!" His father said in shock, he had his wand pointed straight at him, he looked like he had only been a few seconds from cursing him. But at the sight of seeing Harry he slowly lowered it.  
  
"Dad, I need to talk to you right now. Remus should be here any second" Harry quickly said, rushing over to his father and grabbing his arm, dragging him over to his door.  
  
"What's going-" His father didn't get to finish his sentence as Remus had rushed in and was calling Harry's name wildly.  
  
Once Remus caught sight of Harry he ran over to him and bent down front of him, checking him over as he asked questions, not giving Harry time to respond.  
  
"What's wrong Harry? Are you hurt? Were you attacked? Do you need to see Poppy? Come on Harry, I'll take-"  
  
"Remus!" Harry said loudly, cutting him off. "I am not hurt, I was not attacked and I do not need to Madam Pomfrey. Something did happen, and I will tell you both but first I just need to ask you some questions." Harry replied a lot calmer then he felt, looking at Remus.  
  
Remus stopped looking at Harry's arm for any injuries and looked into Harry's eyes instead.  
  
"Okay Harry, what is it?"  
  
"Maybe you should both sit down."  
  
Remus and his father both shared a look, but did sit down.  
  
Harry started pacing around the room, thinking about how he was going to say what he wanted to ask. He looked a lot like his father as he did.  
  
"Remus...I need to ask you a few things that might be a bit painful for you, and I need you to understand that I do have a reason for asking you this okay?"  
  
"Okay Harry." Remus looked curiously at Harry, wondering what he was to say.  
  
"And you promise not to get mad or upset at me."  
  
"I'll try my best Harry" Remus answered reassuringly.  
  
"And you promise to let me finish talking before you but in?"  
  
"Harry just ask the bloody question" His father said, sounding annoyed.  
  
"I promise Harry." Remus ignored his outburst as Harry seemed to have.  
  
Harry nodded and took a deep breath. The truth was, he truly didn't know where he was going with what he was about to say.  
  
"Okay, I wanted to ask you about Sirius Black."  
  
Remus took a quick intake of breath but refrained himself from saying anything.  
  
Harry waited, making sure he was still with him.  
  
"Go on Harry, what did you want to know?"  
  
"He was a Death Eater correct."  
  
Remus nodded, looking quite upset.  
  
"And he was my parent's secret keeper."  
  
Remus again nodded.  
  
"He sold them out to Voldemort."  
  
"Harry you know all this." His father snapped  
  
Harry ignored him and continued to look and talk to Remus.  
  
Remus finally nodded at Harry, his eyes looking suddenly dull.  
  
"Peter Pettigrew could turn into a rat, which was his Animagus form correct?"  
  
Remus again nodded.  
  
"You called him Wormtail?"  
  
Remus had a sad smile on his face, obviously remembering something from the past.  
  
"Yes, that was his name Harry." Remus sounded a bit croaky.  
  
"And Sirius Black killed Peter Pettigrew."  
  
"Harry please..." Remus had his hand over his mouth, taking deep breaths through it, trying to calm down and stop any tears whatsoever from falling down his face.  
  
Harry winced at the pain he was obviously causing Remus to live through, he was hesitant to ask his next question, but he needed to know. "Do you have his body?"  
  
"What?" Remus gasped  
  
"Do you have Peter Pettigrew's body, did they ever find it? You never really told me much about that part of the story."  
  
"No, all they found was... was a finger..." Remus croaked out.  
  
"A finger..." Harry repeated to himself. He felt flashes go through his mind, things Ron had said.  
  
'...He's been in the family for years, we have had him since I was around one... he's missing a toe, I think he got into a fight with a cat...'  
  
"I had another dream, just last night-" Harry blurted out, finally sitting down in a chair closest to him, which happened to be right next to the door that Remus had luckily closed when he entered through it.  
  
"Harry, why didn't you tell us when you first came in?" Severus said sternly.  
  
"I needed to know something first, which you have just told me."  
  
Both Remus and Severus looked completely confused so Harry kept going.  
  
"Well, in my dream I was just following a rat. It was so unusual, it looked exactly like Ron's rat Scabbers. In fact I was sure it was, it was even missing the toe at the front. But then I saw it transform into a man, a man whom Voldemort called 'Wormtail'."  
  
"Voldemort!" His father seemed more interested that Harry had Voldemort alive in his dream, rather then Wormtail.  
  
"Yes Voldemort."  
  
"But that's... that's impossible..." Severus looked like he was in shock.  
  
"Is it really?" Harry asked  
  
Severus opened his mouth but then closed it.  
  
"Are you sure that he said Wormtail?" Remus seemed to be the opposite of Severus, he was still in shock about Harry saying Wormtail.  
  
"Positive. And I believe that he was Ron's rat Scabbers. It all fits, the missing toe, the fact that he had lived more years then a normal rat would have."  
  
"Harry, Ron's rat died." Severus said logically.  
  
"But what if it wasn't Scabbers?"  
  
"I... I don't under-" Remus started but was cut off by Harry.  
  
"I think that Peter Pettigrew is still alive." Harry finally said.  
  
"Are you trying to say that Black didn't kill Pettigrew? That he is... is innocent?" Severus said disbelievingly.  
  
"Harry, he betrayed your parents. How can you even say..." Remus trailed off, looking away from Harry, not believing what he thought Harry was trying to say.  
  
"I know what he did, and I'm not trying to say that he didn't betray my parents... What I'm trying to say is that I do not believe that Sirius Black killed Peter Pettigrew. But perhaps they were both in on it together." 


	30. Believe Me

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A Different Life  
  
Chapter 30 - Believe Me  
  
Remus sat in shock, thinking about the words Harry had just said.  
  
"But that... that doesn't make... doesn't make any sense..."  
  
"Harry has got a point, perhaps Black and Pettigrew went to meet up, their master had just been defeated so they were angry, they decided to make a scene, which is where the killing muggles comes in, then Pettigrew faked his own death, and before Black got a chance to do the same, Aurors came in and arrested him. He didn't get a trial, so he went straight to Azkaban."  
  
"That all fits except that the muggles heard Peter accusing Sirius Black of betraying James and Lily."  
  
"True... and no matter how daft Pettigrew was, he wouldn't be daft enough to leave his life behind when Black was the secret keeper, and nobody even suspected him of being a Death Eater, so why give his life up when it was not in danger of being taken away?"  
  
Harry watched as his father and Remus discussed the possible reasons. He was starting to feel tired again and felt his eyes drooping, but the next sentence out of his father's mouth took away any thought of sleep.  
  
"Before we start getting ahead of ourselves, we should talk with Albus, this is most likely just a dream that Harry had. So far there has been no proof that his dreams have come true..."  
  
Harry couldn't believe it, he knew they were true. Wasn't his word enough for them?  
  
"What do you mean? Of course they are true." Harry stood up and glared at his father.  
  
"Harry, there has been no proof to suggest that these dreams, are anything more then just that. It's not that I don't trust you, because I do... But these are really far fetched Harry."  
  
"But my scar was hurting in both, how do you explain that?"  
  
"I really don't know Harry" His father answered sadly.  
  
"Remus, Remus please, you believe me don't you?"  
  
"I-I-" Remus couldn't seem to say anything. He kept opening and closing his mouth. Finally he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry Harry, but what you are saying... It's just not possible. Peter would never... And Voldemort... he's dead Harry."  
  
"So you both don't believe me?" Harry was shocked.  
  
Remus looked sadly up at Harry.  
  
"Harry-" His father began but he didn't need to finish his sentence, Harry already knew the outcome of his words.  
  
"Fine, if you won't believe my word, I'll find a way to prove it to you."  
  
"What do you mean you'll pro-" Remus said but stopped as he saw Harry turn around and open the door, slamming it shut behind him.  
  
"Harry... Harry!" Severus shouted after him but he didn't come back.  
  
***  
  
Harry went straight back up to Gryffindor Tower and again woke Ron up, telling him everything that had happened.  
  
"You believe me Ron don't you?"  
  
Ron nodded his head. "So what are we going to do?"  
  
"We are going to prove them wrong"  
  
"Harry I don't know about this..."  
  
"Come on Ron, this is a life and death situation here."  
  
"Okay, then tell me how we are going to go about this?"  
  
Harry sat back and thought about what they were going to do. He was all for rushing in and doing something stupid. But he did value his life, and no matter if his father believed him or not, he would be very upset and angry if Harry went and did something stupid.  
  
"Well we can talk to Draco."  
  
"What has Draco got to do with this?"  
  
"He might know something about this, or at least his father would. He may be able to find out some information."  
  
"Why would his father know anything?"  
  
"Well a few years ago, when I was sent back to the Dursleys-" Harry shuddered here. "-I overheard dad and Albus talking, and they were saying that he is a Death Eater. They just didn't have enough proof to prove it back then when all the trials were going on."  
  
"Really! Do you think that Draco-"  
  
"No Ron, Draco isn't like that. He may act evil most of the time, but he's good inside, I just know it."  
  
"So okay, we try and get information from Draco, what else?"  
  
"I think we should get Hermione's help."  
  
"What? Why her, she'll probably just go tell McGonagall." Ron whined.  
  
Hermione and Ron seemed to have a clash of personalities. They were not too fond of each other and Harry set his own mission to get them to become friends, but that for now was to be done later as he had more important things to worry about.  
  
"We need her Ron, she's the smartest witch I know and she won't tell McGonagall. I promise."  
  
"Okay then, what about your father, he's gonna know something's up. He'll be watching you extra carefully."  
  
"Let me handle my father."  
  
***  
  
At dinner the next night Harry sat at the other end of the Christmas table, as all the teachers and students were sitting at one table. Harry sat in- between Ron and Draco. He was ignoring his father and Remus as he spoke lightly with Draco.  
  
"Draco..." Harry whispered  
  
"What?"  
  
"I need to talk to you..."  
  
"What about?"  
  
"I'll tell you after, just follow me out okay."  
  
Draco looked curiously at Harry but nodded his head and went back to eating his food.  
  
After another few minutes Harry and Ron got up, with Draco following close behind.  
  
***  
  
"In here..." Harry whispered, ushering Draco and Ron into what looked like a secret entrance.  
  
"What is this place?"  
  
"Just a secret room" Harry replied, he hadn't been there before but he had seen it on the map. It looked like it hadn't been used for many years, very dusty and old looking.  
  
Harry then proceeded to fill Draco in on what had been happening.  
  
"You know who!" Draco exclaimed  
  
"Yes, now do you believe me or not?"  
  
Draco looked skeptically at both Ron and Harry for a moment.  
  
"Why are you telling me this?"  
  
"Do you believe me Draco?" Harry asked again.  
  
"I don't know, I need some time to think about this."  
  
"Understandable."  
  
"So why did you tell me?"  
  
"I need your help Draco." Harry said, getting straight to the point.  
  
"What with?"  
  
"Proving it all to my father"  
  
"And how can I help you with that?"  
  
"I know about your father." Harry came out and said it straight away.  
  
Draco looked shocked. "What do you know about my father?"  
  
"That he was, and is a loyal Death Eater." Harry said calmly.  
  
"What! Now I don't know where you got that ide-"  
  
"Give it up Malfoy, we already know." Ron cut him off.  
  
"Listen-" Harry cut in before they could get into a fight. "-the point is, is that we know about your father, and we think that you can help us with getting information."  
  
"Why would I help you get information?"  
  
"Because I believe that we are friends, and I don't think that you believe in what your father is. So will you help us?"  
  
Draco looked thoughtfully at Harry, and then looked away and at the ground,  
  
"What information do you want?"  
  
"Well you are always Owling him, has he said anything in his letters?"  
  
"No, this is the first that I've heard of it."  
  
"Well keep writing, and see if you can find anything out."  
  
"Harry, you don't know what you're asking me here..."  
  
"Please Draco"  
  
Draco sighed. "I'm sorry, but you don't know my father, he'll kill me if he finds out."  
  
"He won't find out! Besides you just have to see what you can uncover, just ask your dad some non-suspicious questions in one of your letters."  
  
"What makes you think that I won't just go tell my father what you have just told me and turn against you?" Draco asked, watching Harry's face carefully.  
  
"Because I trust you." Harry answered without hesitation.  
  
"You shouldn't give your trust so freely..."  
  
"I don't"  
  
Draco stared carefully at Harry.  
  
"Fine, I'll see what I can find out."  
  
"Thank you Draco. Ron I want you to see if you can find anything out from your dad as well"  
  
"My dad?"  
  
"Yeah, he does work for the Ministry doesn't he?"  
  
"I don't know Harry, I hardly ever write to my dad, let alone write and ask him about work and if he has noticed anything out of the ordinary..."  
  
"Maybe you could try to be very discreet, like start off slow and don't ask him any questions just yet. Then when you do ask just a couple of questions, he won't think they are weird and out of the blue then. Just ask him how work is going and stuff..."  
  
"I sometimes wonder if you were put in the right house Potter" Draco muttered.  
  
Harry smiled.  
  
"I'll talk to Hermione when she gets back from her parents and we should be all ready."  
  
"Granger!" Draco said sounding a lot like Ron had.  
  
"Yes, Hermione Granger."  
  
"But what can she do? She's just a mud- Muggleborn!" Draco said, stopping himself from saying something where Harry and Ron would get angry.  
  
"Yes, she is a Muggleborn and a very smart witch. She will be able to help us."  
  
Draco signed and slowly nodded.  
  
"As long as she doesn't go tell any professor's, because if she does I'll deny any knowledge of this, I don't want to lose any points for Slytherin."  
  
Ron rolled his eyes.  
  
"And remember to keep your eyes and ears open okay, now we better get back, it's getting late."  
  
Ron, Draco and Harry stepped out of the room seeing as there was nobody outside it.  
  
"You sure you don't want us to walk you back Draco? Wouldn't want you to get lost now would we" Ron said jokingly.  
  
"Shut it Weasley!" Draco sneered at him.  
  
"Come on you guys, we'll be late if we stay here any longer. See you tomorrow Draco."  
  
"Yeah, later Draco"  
  
"Harry, Weasley" Draco said nodding to them and then he ran off in the direction of Slytherin Common rooms, leaving Ron and Harry shaking their heads after him.  
  
***  
  
Harry and Ron didn't run into any teachers on their way back and counted themselves lucky. But as soon as entered the common room they realized they had thought too soon.  
  
It was completely deserted. Not one student was in sight, even if a lot of people had left for the holidays, there were still normally a few people hanging around the common room. But the answer as to why there was nobody around was sitting by the fire.  
  
"Where have you been?" His father asked, getting up and walking over to Ron and Harry.  
  
"We were just talking with Draco, weren't we Ron" Harry replied calmly.  
  
Ron nodded and spied a look over to the staircase, wishing he was able to run up those and get away from Harry's dad.  
  
"And what was so important that you had to stay out past curfew?"  
  
"We actually just got back a couple of minutes before curfew..."  
  
"Harry..."  
  
"Did you want to talk to us about something important or did you just want to discuss curfew?"  
  
Severus glared at Harry and quietly said "Ron, you can head up to bed now."  
  
"No, I want him to hear this." Harry said.  
  
"Look. Harry I know you're angry at me-"  
  
"I'm not angry with you"  
  
Severus raised an eyebrow at him, clearly not believing him.  
  
"I'm not, honest. I am however a bit hurt that you don't believe me, but now I think about it, it's to be expected. I haven't offered any proof that what I dreamt is true."  
  
Ron had slowly started to head over to the stairs leading to their dormitories, feeling this wasn't really his business.  
  
"Harry, it's not that I don't believe you, its just I'm not sure that what is happening in your dreams is real. Couldn't it just be a dream?"  
  
Harry nodded though inwardly he didn't believe it. They were too real to just be dreams. And he wasn't just going to sit around and wait for something bad to happen.  
  
Harry looked next to him, expecting to see Ron but he was already gone. Then an idea struck him.  
  
"Dad, can you do me just one favour."  
  
His father looked suspiciously at him "What is it Harry?"  
  
"Can you please talk to Arthur? Just ask him about Scabbers, Ask him where he buried him. Maybe you could get him to see if it's the same rat-"  
  
"Harry, he's been dead for Merlin knows how many years. I doubt there will be much left."  
  
"But what if he charmed him to not decom-"  
  
"Harry please, you're being-"  
  
"Just do this for me, please Dad. For me..."  
  
His father looked at him long and hard.  
  
"If I was to do this, and we find that it was Scabbers that died, then will you stop this?"  
  
"You won't hear another word about it from me I promise." Harry smiled hopefully at him. He knew that he probably wouldn't let it go after. He wasn't even sure that Peter would have been Scabbers. It could very well have just been coincidence that he happened to live a long life, and was missing a toe. Pure coincidence. But that wasn't going to stop Harry from finding out if it was not just chance.  
  
"I'll talk to him tomorrow morning, okay."  
  
Harry smiled at him.  
  
"Thanks Dad."  
  
"Now off to bed."  
  
Harry nodded and made his way up the stairs, feeling his father's eyes on him the whole way. He quickly changed and fell onto his bed, crawling under the covers and falling asleep.  
  
~  
  
"And you will bring her back when?"  
  
"Soon. Very soon, have patience my friend. First I will see to killing Harry Potter, and then I will bring her back." Voldemort hissed.  
  
"Why can't you kill Potter after you bring her back?"  
  
"Because I need Potter to help me do it!" Voldemort snapped angrily.  
  
The man nodded, though he still looked as though he disagreed.  
  
"I don't like it when my servants question my plans." Voldemort then stood up and towered over the man, looking every bit evil.  
  
"Crucio"  
  
The mans screams filled Harry's dreams until Harry finally awoke, scar blazing with pain. 


	31. He's Only Eleven

Thank you to Kateydidnt, Calani, Kyra, solar, Ms. Padfoot, Corgi, Lady Lightning, Sela, Kemenran, Jaein, Teigra, litine, ranger, SparkySparkles, Satoshi a.k.a. Heero_YuyZ, princess55, RaistlinofMetallica, Harriet, Barbara, arcee, athenakitty, angeL_1215, palanmenel, Innocent Dreamer, Kateri, azntgr01, abigfan, Fire'N'Ice, Rickman's Girl, Lady Lily, Jay, ShortySC22, vbwizard, Them Girl, Alexis-Lee and MJ for reviewing!  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 31 - He's Only Eleven  
  
Harry sat up breathing heavily. His scar was throbbing but like before, Harry ignored it and tried to concentrate on remembering the dream.  
  
He remembered that the man that seemed familiar to him was in it, as well as Voldemort. And they were talking about someone... a woman perhaps?  
  
Harry sighed out loud and closed his eyes against the nagging pain his scar was presenting itself with.  
  
But as soon as he did close his eyes, he was confronted with pictures of the dream he just had, Harry felt sick just watching as the man was ruthlessly tortured. Last nights dinner was already making its way up and the next thing he saw sealed the deal. Behind the familiar man that was being horribly tortured, were what looked like a least thirty people dressed in black robes. And they were all bowing at Voldemort, most had their faces hidden, but some were not wearing masks, and the ones that weren't all had smiles of their faces, sick smiles.  
  
Harry immediately jumped out of bed and ran into the dorms bathrooms and threw up, and continued to do so until he felt he had nothing left in his stomach.  
  
Breathing heavily, Harry slid to the cold floor, resting his head against the ground, feeling a slight comfort the coolness brought to his head, which was now drenched in sweat.  
  
Now he only heard the screams ringing in his ears.  
  
***  
  
To say Harry felt like crap was a definite understatement. He had since crawled back into his bed, but the thought of going back to sleep was horrifying. All Harry had to do was close his eyes to see the man's twisted tortured body, to hear his never ending screams.  
  
Harry shivered just thinking about it. So he brought his legs up to his chest and rocked, staring at his closed hangings, not daring to even blink.  
  
***  
  
"Harry, are you going to get up?" Ron pulled the hanging back and what he saw made him gasp. Harry was deadly pale, looking very much sick and he was just rocking himself on his bed, appearing to be every bit upset.  
  
"Harry! What's wrong?" Ron was immediately at Harry's side.  
  
When Harry didn't answer Ron started to get really worried.  
  
"I'll go get your dad-" Ron stopped mid-sentence as the pleading in Harry's eyes was enough to tell Ron not to.  
  
"Madam Pomfrey?" He knew Harry would never go for that, even though he didn't think ill of the nurse, he definitely didn't want to be her patient if he could help it.  
  
"Maybe it will be best if you stay here today, I'll tell anyone who asks that you're sick okay?"  
  
Ron's only answer was the nod of Harry's head.  
  
***  
  
Apart from Ron having to dodge questions about where Harry was, especially from Draco, the day went smoothly. All the professors accepted Ron's excuse and only expressed worry rather then annoyance when they asked about Harry's whereabouts. Ron was glad that most people were away for Christmas, well he was glad that Hermione was away because he knew she wouldn't have taken his excuse without first seeing Harry for herself.  
  
But when Ron went to check on Harry before dinner, he was upset to see that it hadn't looked like Harry had improved at all. In fact he didn't even look like he had moved.  
  
Again, not having Harry talk to him, Ron was left with one choice.  
  
While at dinner he finally met Severus' worried glance which he had felt on him all day, he met it full on with one of his own. He was going to have to talk to him. Something was up with Harry and no matter how upset Harry might be that he brought his father into this, he was going to do it for Harry's sake.  
  
***  
  
Severus was feeling very worried. From what Ron had said and the way he had described Harry, he had reason to be.  
  
Severus heard the few frightened gasps as he entered the common room for the second time in two days, both being after dinner.  
  
Once he was in front of the boy's first year dorm rooms, Severus slowly opened the door and walked in, closing it behind him.  
  
He went over to the window, which was showing only the light through the bottom crack of the curtains, so he opened them fully, revealing the moon's shine. It lit up the entire room.  
  
Severus could now see Harry through the crack in the hangings which Ron had made before when he went in to talk to Harry.  
  
"Harry..." Severus stepped closer to his bed.  
  
Harry didn't even acknowledge he was there.  
  
"Ron said you weren't feeling well."  
  
Harry just nodded his head, not looking at his father's face.  
  
Severus, not hearing a reply from Harry went on, stepping further towards his bed.  
  
"He said he heard you being sick this morning. Is that true?"  
  
Harry again nodded, looking down at his bed sheets.  
  
"Did you go see Poppy?"  
  
Harry shook his head, a fear prickling in the back of his mind that he might have to go stay in the hospital wing.  
  
"So then I would assume you are you feeling better now?"  
  
Harry shrugged, still he had avoided any contact with his father.  
  
Severus sighed and sat on the bed next to Harry.  
  
"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" he asked hopefully.  
  
But he took Harry's silence as a 'no'.  
  
Severus forced himself to remain calm, if he wanted to find out what the problem was he had to remain composed and approachable. "If you feel ready to tell me what's wrong, I'll be willing to listen, okay Harry?"  
  
Harry didn't move.  
  
Severus brought his hand out and gently lifted Harry's chin.  
  
"Okay?"  
  
Harry for the first time that night looked his father in the eye and he could easily see the worry that lay there, also a bit of shock. Perhaps because he finally looked at him? Perhaps he really did look bad? Harry truly didn't know which, if either.  
  
Harry nodded, something he had been doing a lot of and closed his eyes, feeling his father let go of him chin, though it seemed a bit hesitant, and then finally leave.  
  
Harry sat there a bit longer, immediately opening his eyes to stop the image forming again.  
  
***  
  
"I don't know what's happened Albus, Harry and I were close before his first year, and now... now he can barely look at me." Severus said while pacing angrily around Dumbledore's office.  
  
"Now I'm sure you're overreacting just a bit-"  
  
"No Albus, I'm not. I went and saw him tonight after Ron told me he had heard Harry being sick in the early hours of the morning, he hasn't shown his face all day or said a word. When I went to see him he could barely look at me. And when he did, Albus his eyes..." Severus faltered, remembering what he had seen. He stopped pacing and stood facing Dumbledore. "They looked-" Severus looked around the room, trying to think of the right word. "Albus they looked dead."  
  
Both men remained where they were, both pondering the words as they were left off.  
  
"Something is wrong. I know it. First he has these dreams, and now this. What does it all mean?" Severus again began pacing.  
  
"I don't know Severus, I really don't know."  
  
"I'm unsure of what to do, he's mad at Lupin and I, even you probably. He needs to be able to talk to someone. Ron is hardly appropriate and I'm not sure he trusts anyone else enough to talk about whatever is wrong."  
  
"Then we must hope that he will come to us." Dumbledore answered gravely.  
  
***  
  
Later that night Severus heard a knock on his office door and he frowned. He was just about to start a potion that would take quite a bit of time and he wanted to start it now before it got too late.  
  
Severus got up and thought about whom it could be, Dumbledore would have knocked and then just entered, any student wouldn't even come to his door for fear of being yelled at, even the Slytherins were a bit hesitant when it came to seeing him. And no other professor would come down to talk at the time of night that it was, so the only other person that he could think of was Lupin. Though why he would come down was a mystery to him. So having no real clue as to who was knocking on his door, he put his best intimidating act on and stormed the rest of the way over to the door, throwing it open to scare whoever it was who was disturbing him.  
  
"Harry?" Severus' intimidation act fell at once, clearly not having expected it to have been Harry at his door.  
  
"I had another dream..." he replied softly, head down and looking at his feet.  
  
"Come in..."  
  
Severus stepped aside for him to enter.  
  
Harry slowly entered and stood in the middle of the classroom.  
  
Severus shut the door and then stood to face Harry.  
  
"Do you want to tell me about it?"  
  
Harry bit his bottom lip and looked at the ground, finally nodding his head.  
  
"Come into my office Harry." Severus led him over to his office and over to his desk and sat him down, he ignored his usual chair that he normally sat in to intimidate whoever was there, since they were normally there because they were in trouble, and he took the seat next to Harry, turning it around to face him so their knees were touching.  
  
"Voldemort was there... and he was..." Harry trailed off and looked away.  
  
"Take your time Harry"  
  
"He was using the...the Cruciatus curse on a man...he held it for so long..."  
  
Severus then realized what was wrong. This boy in front of him, an eleven year old had witnessed a man being horribly tortured. For any person that would be a horrible experience.  
  
During his Death Eater days he at first couldn't stand to see it, to hear the screams, he could still remember the first few that he had seen tortured like it only happened yesterday.  
  
"Harry..." Severus said soothingly  
  
"Every time I close my eyes now..." Harry again trailed off, but he didn't need to finish his sentence as Severus understood.  
  
Severus pulled him into a hug and could tell by Harry's now trembling body that he was crying.  
  
"Please don't let me go to sleep, I don't want to dream anymore..."  
  
"Shhh..." Severus muttered to him, rubbing his back soothingly.  
  
After several minutes he had calmed down a bit, so Severus grabbed his wand from off his desk and summoned a dream-less sleep potion from off one of his many shelves.  
  
"Harry, drink this"  
  
Harry leaned off him and took the potion from his hand and gulped it down, immediately returning back to where he was once he had finished it.  
  
Severus waited until he felt Harry go limp in his arms and then he picked him up and took him into his old room and carefully placed him into his bed, tucking his blanket around him tightly.  
  
Severus sat in the chair beside the bed, watching as Harry slept. He had often done that when Harry was younger and even though he knew that Harry would be fine now, he found that he didn't want to leave.  
  
So he sat, thinking of what had been happening over the last few days.  
  
He knew that what Harry had seen must have been real, he wouldn't have overreacted like that to just a scary dream, a nightmare. Nor would he make things up. But could it be true? Could Voldemort really be alive?  
  
Severus sighed and leaned closer to Harry, to his son who trusted him so much, probably without thinking about it twice, so didn't Severus owe him the same? 


	32. Christmas

Thank you to Ms. Padfoot, Calani, ShortySC22, abigfan, Corgi, Kateri, Kemenran, Innocent Dreamer, princess55, Barbara, ranger, Fire'N'Ice, Lady Lightning, palanmenel, Mia, Silver-Phoenix, hermia, angeL_1215, SparkySparkles, Old Fawkes, Shinigami06, Teigra, Adenara Yatman, Ella , BaYer04rulz, Morgana, DiggoryTen4, Jackie and beyond infinity for reviewing!  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 32 - Christmas  
  
Harry awoke the next day to find himself in his old room. He lay there taking in the comfort he felt just being in his old room, knowing his father was only a door away.  
  
Finally Harry got up and stretched, yawning as he did.  
  
He walked towards his door and opened it, and crossed the hallway and stepped through to his father's room, finding it dark as always, but he was still able to make out most things in the room, most likely from the fact that he was used to the dark.  
  
Harry leaned against the doorframe and smiled at his father's sleeping figure. He hadn't really had a lot of time to see his father since school had started. And even now it was holidays, he only saw him really at meals or when they had their Potion lessons, which his father insisted they continue on with during the holiday break. But secretly Harry didn't mind, it gave him a reason to see his father.  
  
Harry's musings continued until his father's voice broke his train of thought.  
  
"Are you just going to stand there all day or are you going to come in?" sleep slurred his fathers voice, revealing he had only just awoken.  
  
Harry looked a bit nervous, which was stupid as it was his own father, what did he have to be nervous about?  
  
He stepped fully into the room and sat on the edge of his father's bed, they sat in silence for a good twenty minutes before Harry finally spoke.  
  
"How are you feeling this morning?" Severus asked.  
  
"Umm...okay" Harry tried to smile reassuringly back at his father but he got the feeling that he failed miserably.  
  
"I better go see Ron, he'll be worried about me, probably wondering where I am. I didn't tell him I was coming here last night."  
  
"I have already talked to Ron, and you and I will be spending all of today together." Severus turned his head to face Harry, he hadn't moved other then that since he had woken up.  
  
Harry looked at him in surprise.  
  
"Why?" He asked.  
  
"Do you not want to spend the day with me?" Severus finally sat up and looked at Harry fully.  
  
Harry could hear a bit of hurt coming through his voice, as much as his father had tried to hide it, and perhaps if it had been anyone but Harry, they would have missed it, but Harry hadn't. But he was not surprised by the fact that his face showed nothing to even suggest that thought.  
  
"Of course I do, I just wasn't expecting it."  
  
"Yes, well I do have a reason; I wanted to talk more to you about that dream." Severus stopped as he saw Harry wince and look away from him.  
  
"I'd rather just forget about it all-"  
  
"It won't just go away because you want it to Harry."  
  
Harry sighed, feeling sad that what his father was saying was most likely true.  
  
"You know its Christmas in a couple of days..." Harry knew that this attempt at changing the subject was completely obvious and his father would be able to pick up on it a mile away.  
  
"Harry, we need to talk about this"  
  
"I know, and I will, just not now okay?" Harry turned his pleading eyes upon his father.  
  
Now it was Severus' turn to sigh.  
  
"Yes, I was aware of Christmas just being a couple of days away. Albus would never let me forget a thing like that." Severus rolled his eyes thinking of the old man.  
  
Harry smiled and then laid down next to Severus on the bed, looking up at the stone ceiling.  
  
"I think its time we got up, you must be starving. Ron said you didn't eat anything yesterday."  
  
Harry visibly paled thinking about food, and though he was feeling hungry, he just didn't think he would be able to keep it in his stomach.  
  
"It's okay Harry; we'll start off with soup. We can keep it light for now." Severus said understandingly, knowing all to well how Harry was feeling.  
  
Harry nodded and reluctantly got off the bed and went back into his own room to change.  
  
He and his father proceeded to spend the whole day together, not leaving the dungeon area. And Harry had to admit he enjoyed himself. It was just like before he had begun Hogwarts.  
  
Harry reluctantly left with his father making him promise to come straight to him if anything happened. He also gave him a dream-less sleep potion, saying that he was to come back to get more each night until another solution could be found.  
  
***  
  
Harry tiptoed into his dorm room, not wanting to wake Ron up, as he was the only other 1st year boy to stay behind for the Christmas.  
  
"Are you alright Harry? What happened?" Ron asked, sitting up from his bed and turning to face Harry. He had obviously been waiting up for him.  
  
"I'm fine Ron. Just wasn't feeling too good, that's all."  
  
Harry felt a bit guilty about lying, he knew he could trust Ron with anything, even his life, he was after all his best friend. But there were some things he wanted to keep to himself. Besides, he didn't want Ron to worry.  
  
"Are you sure?" Ron asked, as if he wasn't sure whether Harry was telling the truth or not.  
  
"Yeah Ron, just go back to sleep. We can talk more in the morning." Harry then turned around and grabbed his pajamas, hearing Ron close his hangings as he went back to sleep.  
  
***  
  
The next morning Harry and Ron sat in the common room discussing what had been happening.  
  
"You asked your dad to ask my dad to dig up Scabbers?" Ron gaped at Harry.  
  
Harry nodded, watching Ron carefully to see if he was angry.  
  
"And did he?" Ron gave nothing away in his voice or his face.  
  
"I'm not sure, I forgot to ask him." Harry smiled sheepishly.  
  
"Are you sure about this Harry?" Ron asked uncertainly  
  
"No, that's why I wanted dad to ask your dad to see if it is the right rat..."  
  
Ron nodded, and then smiled at Harry, almost reassuringly.  
  
Harry was grateful for him not being angry, that was the last thing he needed.  
  
"What about the letters? Has your Dad said anything yet?" Harry asked.  
  
"No, I haven't gotten around to asking anything like that so far."  
  
"That's okay." Harry quickly said, seeing that Ron looked a bit disappointed in himself. "Come on; let's see if Draco has found anything out."  
  
***  
  
"Hey Draco!" Harry yelled as he and Ron ran after Draco to try and catch up to him. He was just about to turn down another corridor.  
  
He stopped after hearing his name being yelled out and he turned around and waited for Harry and Ron to catch up.  
  
"Where are you going?" Harry asked as they began walking again.  
  
"I was just wondering around. I'm the only one left out of the 1st years in Slytherin." Draco explained.  
  
"Why aren't you home for Christmas?" Ron asked  
  
Draco shrugged  
  
"Father said he had something important on and didn't have time for me this year."  
  
Harry looked over at Draco in shock.  
  
Draco laughed at his face. "Don't worry about it Harry, I'm rather looking forward to Christmas at Hogwarts."  
  
"Well you can spend Christmas with Ron and I."  
  
"Yeah, we are the only ones in our dorm, I'm sure McGonagall won't mind too much if you stayed over on Christmas eve, then you can wake up and open presents with us Christmas morning."  
  
"Yeah, I'll ask my Dad to talk to her."  
  
"I don't know gu-"  
  
"Good, now that's settled, have you heard anything from your dad?" Harry asked, not prepared to take no for an answer and changing the subject seemed like a good idea to assure that.  
  
"Not really." Draco looked away from Harry as he studied the ground intently.  
  
"What's he doing that is so busy that he can't even spend Christmas with his family?" Ron asked skeptically.  
  
Draco shrugged.  
  
"Has he said anything suspicious lately?" Harry asked this time.  
  
"Well..." Draco stopped walking and turned to face them. He looked around carefully before he spoke, making sure there was nobody in sight. "...I just got a letter today from father. Told me that my present would be a few days late, but that I would love it."  
  
Harry looked thoughtful. "Well maybe he's ordering your gift and its coming in late or something. It doesn't necessarily mean anything..."  
  
"I don't know... the way he wrote it sounded like he... I don't know... I just don't get a good feeling from it." Draco shrugged, not being able to explain it.  
  
"Does he know that you and I are friends? I can't imagine that he would like that too much!" Harry laughed thinking about his reaction.  
  
"No kidding. I haven't had the guts to say anything to him. He's definitely not very fond of you or Professor Snape at all."  
  
Draco, Ron and Harry started walking again.  
  
"Well it goes both ways-" Harry stopped himself as he realized what he had just said. "Sorry Draco, I keep forgetting he's your dad. You don't seem anything like him." Harry smiled guiltily at Draco.  
  
"I'll take that as a compliment I think..." Draco replied wearily.  
  
"Do you like him?" Ron asked, truly interested.  
  
Draco hadn't really talked about his father or family that much ever. He always seemed reluctant to talk about it and Harry wasn't too keen to discuss Lucius Malfoy.  
  
Draco shrugged. "He's my father."  
  
"Do you... do you love him?" Harry asked  
  
Draco looked away from Harry, thinking about the question carefully.  
  
"I... I guess I do..."  
  
Harry frowned, if someone had asked him that same question about his father he would have answered 'yes' in a heartbeat.  
  
***  
  
Christmas morning came early for Harry. He woke up at an unearthly time in the morning and grabbed his present that he planned to give to his father. He wanted to give it to him early so he could get back and open the rest of his gifts with Draco and Ron when they woke up.  
  
Harry smiled at Draco, he was sleeping in Dean Thomas' bed, after refusing to go anywhere near Neville's bed.  
  
Harry grabbed a cloak and placed it over his pajamas, not bothering to get changed yet.  
  
He headed down towards the Dungeons and entered his father's room. No surprise to find that he was still asleep. Harry hadn't told him what time he was coming around, just that it would be in the morning.  
  
Harry thought of waking him up by using a spell, he could after all use his wand now. But even Harry was tired, and waking his father up this early was going to be rough, so he probably shouldn't give him more reason to be angry.  
  
"Dad?" Harry lightly shook his father. After a couple of minutes he could tell his father was starting to stir.  
  
"Dad, come on. Wake up"  
  
"Wha-" Severus half mumbled as he sat up on his bed, seeing Harry he woke up more, a worried look settling over his face, replacing the once peaceful sleep features. "What's wrong Harry? Was it a dream?"  
  
"It's alright dad, I'm fine. I just wanted to give you your present." Harry then pulled the present from its hiding place, which had been behind his back, and handed it to his father.  
  
"You woke me up to give me a present at-" Severus turned his head to the side to look at his clock "at 5am?"  
  
Harry smiled innocently at him.  
  
"Couldn't I just-" Severus laid back down up and placed his head on his pillow, but as soon as he did Harry grabbed his arm and started pulling on it. Severus was reminded of Harry's sixth birthday, except now Harry was older and had more strength.  
  
Severus felt himself slowly siding off the edge and just caught himself before he fell.  
  
"Harry" His father growled but Harry grabbed the present and ran out the door, yelling over his shoulder that they would open it out by the fire.  
  
***  
  
Harry sat in front of the now burning fire, wondering if his father had gone back to sleep, as he had been in his room for ten minutes now.  
  
Just as he was about to get up and check, his father opened his door and got out, heavy bags were seeable under his eyes.  
  
"I'm-" Harry began but stopped abruptly.  
  
Severus held his hand up to stop Harry from commenting, he walked into the kitchen and made himself a very strong coffee, drowning it all in one go. He then poured himself another cup and walked over to the other side of the room Harry was in, he opened a draw and pulled out a present, obviously meant for Harry and walked back over to him, sitting down next to him on the couch.  
  
"I want you to open mine first, since I did wake you up early." Harry smiled and handed his father his gift.  
  
Severus took it wearily, Harry's gifts normally were things he had made, but now Harry could do magic, he didn't know what to expect.  
  
Ignoring the fact that Harry had used bright red and gold paper, Severus unwrapped the present.  
  
"You brought me spoons?" Severus asked confusedly, picking up one and turning it around in his hand to see if there was something different about it.  
  
Harry nodded eagerly, obviously enjoying Severus reaction.  
  
"You felt I was running low on spoons?" Severus was getting a bit annoyed as he saw the amused look on Harry's face. He obviously was enjoying himself.  
  
"Mind telling me what it does?" Severus assumed Harry must have done something to it. But he couldn't tell what it was.  
  
"Well you normally eat-" Harry stopped as he saw Severus' sharp look on him. "-okay, since its Christmas... but really, you take the fun out of things." Harry passed over a parchment which had been in his pocket that had his handwriting all over it.  
  
"I don't understand?" Severus looked down at the parchment to see it had spells written over it, next to each spell was a word, like 'counter clockwise' and things like that.  
  
"Its charmed, so it will stir your potions for you, and before you even say that you actually like standing around for sometimes hours at a time just stirring a potion, I've seen you get so tired sometimes that you have even ruined a few potions because you were up so late making them. So for those specific times, you can use this."  
  
"And why may I ask, were you still up at those times when you should have been in bed, asleep?" Severus looked pointedly again at Harry, expecting to see guilt on his face but instead seeing him rolling his eyes.  
  
"I was usually just getting up at those times."  
  
"You need to learn how to sleep in Harry, you're a kid, shouldn't I be the one that rushes around trying to wake you up in the mornings and not the other way around?"  
  
Harry shifted in his seat uncomfortably, remembering having to always wake up early in the morning to start his chores, the Dursleys didn't say he had to get up so early, but if he was to finish all his work, he had to start early. And even that sometimes wasn't enough time to finish them.  
  
"Well it's not my fault you sleep in so much. Maybe you should try going to sleep before the sun is rising and then you won't have a need to sleep in so long."  
  
Severus rolled his eyes but decided to change the subject, noticing Harry's drop in enthusiasm triggered by what he had said earlier. He already knew why Harry's mood went tumbling down, no doubt it had to do with the Dursleys, and so in an intention to take Harry's mind of anything Dursley, Severus grabbed his present for Harry, slowly bringing it out to him, watching the curious face grow more and more impatient.  
  
"What is it?" Harry asked, turning the box around in his hand once his father finally gave it to him an eternity later.  
  
"Why don't you open it and find out"  
  
Harry tore away the plain blue wrapping paper and found a plain box, opening that he found his gift.  
  
Smiling, Harry pulled the wrist watch out of its case and admired it. It was a Quidditch watch, with the Snitch at the end of the second hand which happened to be a broom, and the Bludgers were at the end of the hour and minute hand. Each of the numbers was a Quaffle with a number written on it.  
  
Harry smiled at Severus and thanked him by hugging him tightly.  
  
"You're welcome Harry. And thank you for your gift, I'm sure it will come in handy sometime."  
  
Harry laughed and then put the watch onto his left arm. Admiring it again as he did.  
  
"Merry Christmas Harry"  
  
"Merry Christmas Dad" Harry said happily.  
  
After spending another hour with each other Harry left with the promise of seeing his father at breakfast.  
  
****  
  
Harry walked back into his dorm at 6:30am to find that Ron was just waking up.  
  
"What are you doing up Harry?"  
  
"I went to see my dad."  
  
Ron nodded understandingly. "Is Draco up yet?"  
  
"Nope"  
  
Ron smiled evilly at Harry. He got up and grabbed his pillow. He then walked over to Draco's bed and proceeded to chuck his pillow at Draco.  
  
Draco growled at them but only slinked further down under his covers.  
  
Harry laughed and Ron looked a bit put out, that is until an idea struck him.  
  
"Oh Harry" Ron said loudly. "This one is Neville's pillow right?"  
  
Draco shot up in his bed and glared at both Ron and Harry who were laughing hard at him.  
  
"I'm going to kill-" Draco started but was cut off by Ron who had lost interest in Draco and was staring instead at the heap of presents next to his bed.  
  
"Let's open them now!" Without waiting for a reply, Ron grabbed the biggest one he could see and started to unwrap it. Only moments later Harry and Draco followed suite.  
  
Harry received loads of chocolate from both Draco and Ron. He also got his annual sweater and cake from the Weasleys, as did Draco, much to his surprise.  
  
Moments later Owl flew in through the open window and dropped a parcel in front of Harry. Harry stroked her for a few minutes and gave her some owl treats before she flew off again.  
  
He opened the parcel to find it was from Hermione. He had sent her gift off with Owl the night before and it looked like she had sent hers back with Owl.  
  
He could easily see that it was a book, and once he ripped off the outer paper he saw the heading. 'Advanced Defensive Spells'. He had been keeping her informed with what was happening and it looked like she thought he could use the book, which given Harry's history was probably true. Harry had also given her a book, thinking that she wouldn't appreciate food as much as Ron and Draco would. He had given her a potions book since she seemed so interested in the subject, much to his father's disgust.  
  
Harry smiled to himself at the thought. He often heard his father complain about how Hermione was always adding extra things into her homework and trailing off subject. He would probably strangle Harry if he knew that he was encouraging her.  
  
Harry picked up his next and last gift. He read the note and saw that it was from Dumbledore, and it said that it used to be his fathers.  
  
Opening the present up, Harry saw that it was in fact an Invisibility cloak. Harry's mouth dropped open and once Ron and Draco saw what it was, so did theirs.  
  
Soon their faces of shock were replaced by evil smiles. They could have a lot of fun with this.  
  
***  
  
After lunch Harry went to go see Remus. They hadn't spoken very much since the night Harry had told him about his dream, but Harry missed him.  
  
Harry knocked on his quarter's door, wondering if he might be interrupting something. He hadn't seen Remus at lunch and there was a possibility that he may have left to go visit someone, or someone was visiting him.  
  
But before Harry could turn around and leave, the door swung open and Remus stepped out.  
  
"Hello Harry" Remus smiled warmly at him.  
  
"Hi Remus, am I interrupting something? I can come back later if you would like." Harry turned to go but Remus placed his hand on Harry's arm to stop him.  
  
"I was actually just about to go find you, so please, come in" Remus stepped out of the doorway and out of the way so Harry could get in.  
  
Harry walked in and he turned around as he heard the door close behind him. He smiled at Remus a bit hesitantly.  
  
"I just wanted to give you this" Harry pulled out a parcel from his robes that he had on, which was currently keeping him very warm.  
  
Remus smiled brightly at Harry and took the present from Harry.  
  
"And this Harry is for you." Remus went over to his desk and retrieved Harry's present which looked like it could be a book. He handed it to Harry who smiled at him as he took it.  
  
They both stood there and un-wrapped their gifts. And at exactly the same time they gasped at what they saw.  
  
"Thank you so much Remus" Harry flipped through the Quidditch books that Remus had given him, intent on reading every single page as soon as he could. He looked up when he saw that Remus hadn't said a word since he had opened up his gift.  
  
"Harry... is this... how did you-" Remus stopped trying to get a sentence out and instead collapsed into the closest chair.  
  
"Dad found it among some old boxes he had, he said that mum gave it to him after... after Sirius Black tried to... well you know... hurt my Dad-"  
  
Remus looked away, feeling ashamed. To think he had almost inflicted someone was a horrible feeling, and one he was sure he would never forget.  
  
"-so mum said that the pranks had gone far enough, she took the book and gave it to him, knowing that he of course would not give it back." Harry finished.  
  
"I remember this. James, Peter... Black and I spent so much time writing and recording pranks. James had a fit when he found out Lily had taken it and was not intending on giving it back. I never knew she had given it to Severus though, very smart woman your mother. I doubt any of us would have thought of that. I believe James and... Black looked for weeks to try and find it, trying to persuade her to give it back."  
  
Harry smiled, pleased that Remus looked so happy to be holding it and to have it in his hands.  
  
"Harry I can't accept. This really should belong to you-" Remus started to push the book back into Harry's hands but he took a step back, not accepting it.  
  
"You are always giving me things that belonged to my parents, I think it's about time I gave you something of there's back."  
  
Remus smiled and stood up, walking over to Harry and ruffling his hair.  
  
"Besides, Ron and I have already memorized the good pranks."  
  
Remus laughed. "Well thank you Harry. This means a lot to me." Remus looked back down at the book and looked through a few pages, moving his fingers over the handwriting.  
  
Finally he looked back up at Harry, his face suddenly turning serious.  
  
"Please, sit down Harry, I need to talk to you for a minute." Remus pulled a chair out for Harry and then he sat in one that was facing opposite Harry.  
  
Harry complied and looked a bit nervous at the seriousness in Remus' voice.  
  
"Harry, you know I love you right..."  
  
"Of course Remus, I love you too" Harry answered, not sure where this was going.  
  
"And I do trust you, I really do. I believe that you really had those dreams, and I believe that what you saw was what you told us... but Peter is dead Harry, I'm sorry. But it has taken me so long, so many years to forget about him and move on. I can't... I can't just dig all that up again without seeing him first hand... without physical proof that I can hold..." Remus seemed to be struggling with what he was saying. "I want to believe you Harry I really do. I just..."  
  
"It's okay Remus, I understand. And I'm not mad at you. I should have known that I would need more proof before I went and brought up all those memories..."  
  
"Harry, I'm glad that you felt you could trust me so, and believe me when I say that you still can."  
  
Harry nodded, suddenly he felt bad for being mad at Remus. He had put him through that and he hadn't once thought of it from his point of view.  
  
"I'm sorry Remus, I didn't have any right to be mad at you."  
  
"Don't be silly Harry, you had every right."  
  
Harry smiled. "Thanks Remus."  
  
"So are we okay Harry?" Remus asked hopefully.  
  
"Yeah, we're okay." 


	33. The Storm

Thank you so much to ShortySC22, RaistlinofMetallica, Ms. Padfoot, Kemenran, Silver-Phoenix, SparkySparkles, Romm, Jay, Teigra, Mia, palanmenel, Barbara, DiggoryTen4, MJ, ranger, abigfan, Kyra, athenakitty, Morgana, Corgi, Lady Lightning, Fire'N'Ice and Calani for reviewing!  
  
Well this is the last chapter for a couple of weeks. I, like a lot of people I would imagine, are taking a break to read Harry Potter OoP and I don't plan to be writing in-between that time. I will apologize in advance for the way I end this chapter, but it can't be helped really, and also for the fact that it is most likely poorly written. I struggled to get it out, but I wanted to before it became too late. So I hope you will all continue reading this after. I may take a while to read the book because I will also have school, sports and I have a few social things coming up, so sorry guys, I tried to make up for it all with the length of this and last chapter...  
  
Happy Reading!  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 33 - The Storm  
  
A couple of days after Christmas:  
  
Severus finished bottling up the last potion and turned to place it on his shelf, he took a quick look at his cauldron which had another potion being made, watching as one of the spoons Harry had given him stirred the potion for him. He had to admit it was quite useful.  
  
He continued walking back towards his shelf and just as he went to place the potion in its rightful spot, he felt his dark mark burn, not expecting it he immediately dropped the potion bottle, making it smash to the ground.  
  
He stood there, not making a move to clean up the mess, in fact he didn't move at all. His hand still was in mid air.  
  
Had he just imagined that? Or had his tattoo just hurt... Another sharp pain helped make his decision and without a second thought to cleaning up the potion that he just dropped, he ran, and didn't stop running until he was in Dumbledore's office.  
  
***  
  
"You're sure Severus?"  
  
"Of course I'm sure Albus, I wouldn't be here if I wasn't sure" Severus snapped at Dumbledore.  
  
"Alright Severus" Dumbledore soothed, trying to calm the tempter in front of him that he could see flaring up.  
  
"So what should we do? Obviously Harry was right, no one but Voldemort could have made my mark burn."  
  
"Yes, well I believe that extra shields shall have to go up around Hogwarts, I'm afraid we haven't been as attentive to them since Voldemort disappeared... and Harry of course will need to be better protected."  
  
"How do you propose we do that? He won't accept more supervision. He dislikes the fact that we keep an extra eye on him, feels we over-protect him" Severus muttered, thinking back to a previous conversation he had had with Harry.  
  
"Yes well he is probably right about that, but what I'm 'proposing' as you called it, is not more watching over him. I doubt that will help any, but more helping Harry to be able to protect himself should the situation arise."  
  
"More defense lessons?"  
  
"Yes, I'm sure Remus wouldn't mind."  
  
Severus sat back and thought about it, it was true. Having Harry be able to defend himself better would be a good idea, especially since he does seem to find himself in trouble a lot.  
  
"Alright Albus, you ask Remus and I'll talk to Harry."  
  
"Good, good. But I would make it soon, the sooner we start this the better."  
  
"I'll go get him shall I?" Just as Severus was about to get up, a tapping at the window alerted them to it, and they saw Owl flapping her wings tiredly, fighting the strong wind and snow that was trying to blow her away.  
  
"Owl?"  
  
Severus let Owl in only to see that she didn't actually have a letter attached to her, Dumbledore also seemed to realize this.  
  
"It seems Owl was able to realize that you were in need of her"  
  
"Well I actually wanted to go see Harry myself-"  
  
"Talk to Harry after dinner, let him eat now. We can eat up here and discuss extra protections on the castle. I believe..."  
  
***  
  
Professor Minerva McGonagall was walking through the halls, and although she was hungry, and the great hall just seemed to be calling her name, instinct told her that the yelling that she had heard moments before, that now ceased to exist was not just made up by her imagination.  
  
As she turned the corner she barely had time to react as two men in black cloaks attacked her.  
  
"Crucio"  
  
The men held it there for what felt like an eternity, her screams never making it to anyone's ears, well no one except the two death eaters in front of her.  
  
It was pain beyond pain, and then suddenly her screams stopped. She lay still on the ground, not moving.  
  
"You-you-killed-"  
  
"Oh shut up will you. You're giving me a bloody headache." The man hissed, kicking the body over with his foot. "I'll dump her body in an empty classroom or something..."  
  
"Why? Can't we just leave her here?"  
  
"No you fool, if someone were to find her then they would know someone was at Hogwarts. And I for one would not like to make our presence known until after we have left. Now you go get Potter, and make sure you don't alert anyone that you are here,"  
  
***  
  
Harry was sitting eating his Dinner when Owl flew down and landed besides him, immediately taking the bacon that he had just placed on his plate.  
  
Harry scowled at the bird but soon forgot as he took the note that was attached to Owl. It read:  
  
Harry, Meet me in my office after dinner, Dad  
  
That was his father, straight and too the point, never bothering with pointless conversation, or in this case, pointless words.  
  
Harry pocketed the note and then grabbed another piece of bacon while pondering what his father wanted. He wasn't at dinner, which Harry didn't find too odd. He often skipped meals for the comfort of his dungeons. Though what worried Harry was the fact that he wasn't the only one missing, Dumbledore was missing as well, which was very strange, as Dumbledore never liked to miss a meal, and McGonagall was missing too. Something was very strange. The table looked incredibly empty missing those three people. Even Remus looked at bit confused as why the three were missing.  
  
"Hey Harry..."  
  
"What?" Harry said distractedly to Draco.  
  
"I got another letter from Father today..."  
  
"Yes, and?" Now Draco had Harry's attention.  
  
Draco shrugged. "He said that my present would be coming tonight."  
  
Harry frowned. "Anything else?"  
  
"Not really, well nothing interesting."  
  
Harry nodded and turned back to his food, only briefly wondering what Draco's father had got him for Christmas that would take two extra days to give?  
  
Finally after playing with his food for as long as Harry could take it, he got up and told Ron and Draco that he would meet them later, and he left, walking out the main doors and heading towards the dungeons.  
  
After he was down the first flight of stairs, he stopped dead in his tracks. Down a corridor he saw two men; all dressed in black and wearing masks, and next to them was a floating Professor McGonagall.  
  
Harry immediately backed up and could hear them yelling. They had obviously noticed him too. A shot of wind that flew past his ear which told him he just missed a curse. He ducked down the corridor and headed towards his father's office.  
  
He threw open the door and frantically looked around, his heart stopping as he realized that it was empty as was the classroom he had just run through.  
  
He was about to run back out the door and into the corridor when he heard footsteps making their way to where he was, and they were running fast. Panicking and feeling that he was trapped, Harry shut the door and locked it using his wand, knowing that it would never be strong enough to stop a fully trained wizard from entering.  
  
Harry ran over to his father's big desk and hid behind it, waiting for the inevitable to happen. He just hoped his father would hurry up, he took comfort in the fact that his father should be there any second. Though another thought nagged its way into his head, maybe the note wasn't from his father?  
  
***  
  
"Come on George, we can set up the Dungbombs here, hardly anybody comes in these classrooms anymore. No one will even know. They wouldn't even think to check here."  
  
"Yes, that's my point, why waste some perfectly good Dungbombs here when it won't affect many people?"  
  
"Because we are only testing these George, did you even listen to me before we came?"  
  
"I still think we should have tested it in Snape's rooms." George said evilly.  
  
"Yeah and not only would we have to face Snape's wrath, but also Harry's. I don't think so. Besides, we don't know the password to get into their rooms."  
  
"We shall have to follow Harry one time and find out what it is."  
  
"George..." Fred said warningly, but then his tone lightened. "That's not a bad idea..."  
  
George smiled at his brother and led him into the closest classroom to him.  
  
"This one will do, come on."  
  
The unlocked the door and stepped through. It looked like just an average classroom, though slightly more dusty then normal.  
  
"The house elves mustn't bother cleaning up these old rooms."  
  
"Well the fact that they are unused probably has something to do with it...Now come on, help me put these around the place."  
  
"How many did you bring?"  
  
"Just one or two or five..."  
  
Fred laughed.  
  
"Well we can't let them go to waste I suppose-"  
  
"Oh Merlin!" George gasped, staring at something behind a desk towards the back of the room.  
  
"What is it George?" Fred walked up next to his brother and he too gasped at what he saw.  
  
Professor McGonagall lay dead still on the floor, blood surrounding her.  
  
"Is she alive?" Fred asked, almost dreading the answer.  
  
George gulped and bent down, bringing his fingers hesitantly to his professor's neck to check for a pulse, all thoughts of using magic to check went out the window. After a couple of minutes he looked back up at Fred, his face was as white as a ghost.  
  
"Go and get Madam Pomfrey, now" Any humor that you could almost always find in his voice was gone.  
  
Fred nodded as he sprinted from the room.  
  
***  
  
"Well Albus, I should be off. I'm sure Harry will be finishing dinner soon and I don't want to keep him waiting."  
  
"Of course Severus." Dumbledore agreed.  
  
Severus nodded at Dumbledore and left, telling a few students that were running through the halls off. He checked the Great Hall on his way back but it was already almost empty, with Harry no where in sight.  
  
After a couple of more corridors he was stopped by Remus.  
  
"Lupin, I don't have time for this, I'm about to met Ha-" Severus tried to brush him off but he cut his sentence off.  
  
"It's Minerva. Something's happened." Remus said quickly, leading Severus in the direction of the hospital wing.  
  
"What? What happened?" Severus asked urgently, although he never really liked the professor, most likely because she was once his teacher and she was still able to make him feel like a school boy, he felt concern for the woman.  
  
"I'm not sure, I wasn't able to find out much."  
  
They hurried into the hospital wing to see Madam Pomfrey rushing around McGonagall, her wand constantly shooting sparks at the body. Dumbledore was looking grave and upset behind her.  
  
"Albus, what happened?" Severus asked, looking worried at the sorrow he saw in the old man's eyes.  
  
"I do not know. Poppy said that it is the aftereffects of the Cruciatus curse. She's not sure if she will make it..."  
  
"Cruciatus curse!" Severus gasped at the same time as Remus said "Not going to make it?"  
  
"Who would-?" Severus stopped midway as a scream escaped McGonagall's lips, a scream of complete agony.  
  
***  
  
Harry heard the muffled talk behind the door, it was only moments before the door was swung open. He could see through a crack that only one of the men had followed him.  
  
The man slowly stepped in and with his wand raised, he looked over the room, searching for Harry.  
  
"Come out Potter, you'll only make it worse if you hide..."  
  
Harry had no intension of giving himself up, but he knew he had to move as the man was edging closer and closer to his hiding spot.  
  
Without a second thought Harry ran out from behind the desk and wove through the class desks, practically feeling the curses pass him, smashing and breaking things around him. He ran to the end of the room, the man following him and trying to both grab and curse him.  
  
Once Harry had him at the end of the room he made a run for the door, which was now all clear, he was still using the desks as shields.  
  
He gave up hope of waiting for his father to show up and headed in the direction of Dumbledore's office. He at least knew the password and would able to hide there if he found it empty.  
  
So without looking back, Harry ran through the halls of Hogwarts at full speed, barely slowing down to turn corners.  
  
***  
  
Dumbledore ran over to McGonagall's bed only to be pushed away by Pomfrey.  
  
A few seconds later McGonagall was silenced and what looked to be asleep.  
  
"What is wrong Poppy?" Dumbledore asked, trying to sound calm but they could all hear the worry in his voice.  
  
"She should be fine, but if she hadn't been brought to me when she had..." Pomfrey trailed off, tears in her eyes.  
  
"Has she suffered any... any long term affects?" Remus asked hesitantly.  
  
"We won't know until... if she wakes up."  
  
They all sucked in their breath in shock at the news.  
  
"Who would... who would do such a thing?" Remus asked, still in shock.  
  
"Whoever it is, they most likely are still in the castle. A student couldn't have done this." Severus said, only just realizing what this would mean.  
  
"Where is Harry?" Remus asked, looking worried, he too piecing it together.  
  
"He should be in my office. He'll be safe there. I should probably go see him, he might start to get worried and go looking for me, and we can't have that. Once I get him, I'll get any Slytherins in the common room and any stray students I find and we shall meet in the Great Hall."  
  
"Right, I'll go round up the other Professors and get them to help me get all the students in the other common rooms together."  
  
"I'll help-" Dumbledore started to get up but Severus protested.  
  
"Stay here with Minerva, we can handle this. Keep watch over her, if we need you we shall call." Without any other words Severus left, heading towards his dungeons. Hoping that Harry was alright.  
  
That hope was sorely tested as he saw the door wide open, and once inside, he saw the classroom and his office a complete mess. Curse marks were everywhere.  
  
Severus called out Harry's name and searched the room, turning over tables and chairs as he did, but he found nothing. Harry was nowhere to be seen.  
  
He quickly ran back out the door in search of him, his heart squeezing tightly at the thought of Harry being hurt.  
  
***  
  
Harry didn't have time to think, didn't have time to panic because as soon as he turned the corner he felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him.  
  
He fell to the floor and began to cough loudly, trying to catch his breath back.  
  
"On your feet boy." The death eater hissed.  
  
"How did you get there before I did?" Harry asked while standing up, not feeling afraid of the man, whom he then realized that he knew, as his mask had come off he could see the face.  
  
"I am after all, a Marauder, Potter, I have my ways around-"  
  
"Wormtail you idiot, why for Merlin's sake are you over there? It's this way" A voice from behind Harry snarled at him.  
  
The death eater, Pettigrew glared at the second Death Eater, and then turned that glare straight on Harry.  
  
"Come on Potter" Pettigrew pushed him from front of him and in the direction of the other Death Eater, his wand pointed straight at Harry's back.  
  
Once they were past the death eater he spoke while walking in the other direction, the one Harry and Pettigrew had been going before. "You go ahead; I'll make sure no one follows us."  
  
***  
  
Severus was running wildly down the corridors, not knowing which ones to turn down. If he had been thinking straight he would have gone straight Gryffindor tower and grabbed Harry's map, but he was too worried to think about small details like that.  
  
Just as he turned the next corridor he saw him, but he was not alone.  
  
"Harry!" Severus shouted but he was knocked in the head from behind, and was out cold before he hit the floor.  
  
***  
  
Harry's breath quickened as panic started to overtake him. Another Death Eater, the one who had just hit his Dad stepped over him and then turned back around to face the fallen body. He pulled his foot back and gave one large kick. A crack was easily heard and Harry felt tears falling down his face.  
  
"Dad!" Harry tried to run over to him, tried to make sure that he was okay, but Pettigrew grabbed hold of him and wouldn't let him budge one bit, not that Harry didn't try to get free though, he was sure that after, Pettigrew was sure to have quite a few bruises. He was kicking and punching, but he was still unable to get away.  
  
The Death Eater who was still standing over his father then looked over and with menacing steps, he stalked towards Harry and Pettigrew.  
  
"Shut him up" The Death Eater sounded as though they were very close to losing his temper, and before Harry could comprehend what was happening, he felt himself being struck from behind. He immediately fell to the floor and hit it hard.  
  
He could feel the cold metal of his father's necklace hitting his chest, the one Remus had given him. It was an odd comfort.  
  
He stayed there for a few moments, not wanting to move. Feeling the world was spinning around him. All he felt like doing was sleeping, but he wasn't given the chance as he was roughly picked up and brought to his feet.  
  
"Stand still" Pettigrew hissed at him as he started to sway.  
  
Harry forced himself to try and focus, he had no desire to do as Pettigrew asked of him, but he didn't want to make him angry either.  
  
Pettigrew didn't seem satisfied that Harry would be able to keep standing so he grabbed his arm in a bruising grip to keep him up.  
  
Harry shook his head to try and stop the panic from rising in his chest, but he discovered that was not a good idea at all as everything began to spin again. He looked down at where he had fallen before he was pulled up, he could see blood.  
  
Looking around slowly for a way out, he could see none. So instead he focused on his father, he looked at his chest, willing with all his might that he would see it raise and fall. He almost sighed with relief when he saw that his father was in fact breathing.  
  
But it seemed that Pettigrew followed his line of sight and he too saw Severus.  
  
"What should we do with him?" Pettigrew asked, not sure what should be done to Harry's father.  
  
"I'll handl-" The Death Eater, who Harry then realized was Lucius Malfoy, started to say but he was cut off as someone else spoke from behind Harry and Pettigrew.  
  
"I'll deal with him. You to get Potter out of here before anyone else stumbles across this area and sees us."  
  
Harry then realized that it was the same person who was in his dreams, the same voice that he still couldn't place. He listened carefully to see if he could figure out who it was and why it was so familiar to him.  
  
"Now you fools" He hissed at them as they hadn't moved one bit since he last spoke.  
  
Pettigrew grabbed Harry and they started to head off in the same direction he had been trying to take Harry down earlier.  
  
Harry struggled, and with one solid kick he was able to get free from Pettigrew, but only to be pushed into the wall by Lucius Malfoy, and then without being able to balance himself, he fell again onto the hard ground, again.  
  
"Idiot boy" Lucius hissed at him.  
  
Harry ignored him and took this chance to look at his father, so he turned his face to where he his father's body was still at, he could see the Death Eater crouched over him, he watched as he saw the Death Eater took his mask off, and for the first time since his dreams started, he got a good look at the person's face.  
  
Harry gasped, but any further reactions were lost as he was roughly grabbed by the hair and literally dragged back up to his feet. Then ropes appeared from his waist up and right up to his shoulders, his arms were completely hidden. He would have yelled but his voice seemed to have no volume, almost like it had been put on mute.  
  
But Harry was still in shock at who he had seen back with his father. How was it possible? 


	34. The Unforgivable

Thank you to Kateri, Corgi, ShortySC22, Calani, Kemenran, Barbara, Ms. Padfoot, Lady Lightning, SparkySparkles, barbarataku, Cresha Potter, Sylvester, azntgr01, Fire'N'Ice, Silver-Phoenix, Teigra, Kyra, palanmenel, Sela, b, athenakitty, ranger, Layce74, leah Durose formerly luna699, Phisper, Shinigami06, princess55, Harmoni, angeL_1215, abigfan, Chaos Kid, Morgana, EriEka127, Lady Shinigami, Rose Creighton, DoomSpell, GoldenPheonix, vbwizard, Cloudburst2000 and Them Girl for reviewing.  
  
I've had people guessing that the Death Eater was Sirius, James, Vernon and Draco and well, to find out which (if any) are right, keep on reading! And thank you to everyone for putting up with me and waiting for this chapter to come out, it took longer then expected but it turned out longer then I had anticipated, so I hope you enjoy!  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 34 - The Unforgivable  
  
"Enervate"  
  
Severus groaned, why did his head hurt so much? He opened his eyes only to see that everything was blurred, only then realizing that his eyes were glazed over from all the pain he was feeling, which felt like it was coming from all over his body.  
  
He stopped trying to move altogether, since that seemed to be quite painful. He remained still and listened to the sounds surrounding him. He heard a tapping from around him, an insisted tapping that felt like it was being pounded against his head.  
  
Squeezing his eyes shut and willing his eyesight to clear, he opened his eyes again, and slowly the blurs started to form a shape. He could see the edges of a black robe. And he also saw what was making the tapping noise. It was a foot just beside him, and it was tapping as though it was someone who was waiting, though waiting impatiently.  
  
"Ah Severus, you're finally awake" The tapping stopped.  
  
Although Severus could hear the voice, it was as though the person was far away. Perhaps it was someone else besides the person standing next to him that was talking?  
  
He tried to move again, tried to sit up but a sharp pain from his ribs barely let him move. He groaned in pain and stopped trying to sit up at once. Again his eyesight was obscured as his eyes glazed over with unshed tears.  
  
"I wouldn't advice too much moving; you seemed to have taken a nasty fall."  
  
"W-Where am I?" Severus was shocked at how hard it was to talk, even breathing was beginning to be a hard task.  
  
The person, a man, laughed. "Why, Hogwarts of course."  
  
He was at Hogwarts? For a moment Severus was taken back to his Death Eater days, when he was often found tortured somewhere after a meeting. When he was first starting out he was prone to those types of things. But then why would he be at Hogwarts?  
  
Severus tried to remember, why was he at Hogwarts? And better yet, why was he on the ground of Hogwarts feeling like his ribs were shattered and his head was pounding?  
  
"W-Why am I...?" Severus didn't finish his sentence, as a coughing fit took over, followed by sharp pains from his ribs as they protested against his movement.  
  
"Why are you at Hogwarts? Well I do believe you work here"  
  
There was humor in the mans voice, one that was obviously enjoying the fact that he was in pain. Already Severus felt hatred towards him.  
  
Wait, he worked at Hogwarts? And as soon as the thought entered Severus' mind, so did everything else. Being a Potions Master, finding Harry beaten and in a cupboard, taking him in, looking after him for all those years, and then finally, him being taken away by Death Eaters.  
  
Severus jerked at the thought, now ignoring the pain in both his ribs and his head. He had to get to Harry, he had to make sure he was alright.  
  
Severus slowly raised his head to look up, feeling dizzy if he went too fast. He got about half way up the man's body that was next to him when he stopped. Dangling from his hand was a Death Eater mask.  
  
Severus immediately was on the defensive, trying to feel for his wand but found it missing.  
  
"Sorry to disappoint you Severus, but I took it off you earlier."  
  
The man sounded anything but sorry. In fact, Severus recognized that voice. He lifted his head to see who it was that was standing over him, but it was too dark and shadows were cast over his face.  
  
"Who- Who are you?" If Severus hadn't just been hit over the head he would have kept quiet, and made a map in his head of the quickest escape route. But it seemed the curiosity that Harry often displayed had rubbed off on him.  
  
The man bent down so he was eyelevel with Severus, a smirk that matched the one Severus often had on his face. "Don't you recognize your own father anymore?"  
  
***  
  
Harry couldn't understand it, why would his father's father become a Death Eater? Was he one when he had visited his father that day Harry was unwell? Had he been one all along? And most importantly, what was he going to do with his father? Surely he wouldn't harm him further? A father wouldn't harm his son would he?  
  
Harry thought back to every other father-son relationship he knew. Arthur Weasley would never harm any of his children, his uncle had never laid a finger on Dudley and many people at Hogwart's, whom he had seen with their fathers, were never abusive. And his father had never intentionally caused him any harm. The only time he had caused any harm to him was when he had run off in Diagon Alley.  
  
So certainly his father would be fine... But that thought did little to help the feeling growing in his stomach. What happened if his father died? Harry wouldn't be able to continue on, he would rather be dead himself.  
  
That last thought brought up an interesting point, he had been so worried about his father, that he hadn't even considered himself. He hadn't considered the fact that he might actually die. He was with a couple of Death Eaters, who were taking him presumably to Voldemort. Perhaps to finish what was started all those years ago when he was barely one?  
  
A sharp pain in his head brought him back to reality. Pettigrew had grabbed his hair again, which was still recovering from the last time. He was sure that they had actually pulled a large clump out of his head. His father had often complained about how his hair was always so messy and how there was so much of it, but if Pettigrew and his fellow Death Eaters kept this up, he wouldn't have any hair left soon.  
  
The next thing Harry knew was that something was being forced into his hands, and he realized only too late that it was a Portkey. He saw the forbidden forest that he didn't remember walking through disappear and he slammed into the ground in a place that he had only seen in his dreams.  
  
***  
  
"I thought you had disowned me?" Severus glared at his father, getting over his initial shock.  
  
His father looked thoughtful. "Yes, I suppose I did."  
  
"Then why are you here?"  
  
"You weren't so easily dismissed. You're mother-"  
  
"Is dead" Severus finished for him, though he was sure that that wasn't what his father had wanted to say.  
  
"You'll never understand Severus." His father glared at him.  
  
"I never thought I would see you sink this low." Severus looked down at his black robe and the Death Eater mask in his hand.  
  
"It is only where you have been before, son" His father was quick to reply.  
  
Severus snarled at him but didn't say anything. But after he could no longer stare at his fathers smirk he asked a question that had been on his mind since he found out what his father was.  
  
"You never followed the Dark Lords way, why start now?"  
  
"I may not care for his ideals, honestly, I could care less about muggles and muggleborns, but we made a deal. I deliver Potter, and he delivers something to me."  
  
"What is it that he is to deliver to you?" Severus felt dread that Voldemort could possibly already have Harry.  
  
His father laughed. "Do you honestly expect me to answer that? You don't deserve to know."  
  
"So you helped to bring the Dark Lord back so he could give you something, and in doing so you murder an innocent child's life?" Severus only hopped that what he had just said was wrong, Harry was fine, he knew he was. Perhaps if he told himself that enough times it would be true...  
  
"You have no right to judge me!"  
  
"And yet you find no trouble judging me." Severus snapped back.  
  
His father shook his head and looked away from him, making it look like he was looking down the halls incase someone was coming but Severus knew a distraction when he saw one.  
  
"Where's Harry?" Severus asked, more forcefully then he had thought his lungs would allow. He felt himself getting weaker, feeling colder. He needed medical help and he was very sure that he wouldn't be getting any soon.  
  
His father smiled. "I'm sure he's fine."  
  
"I swear, if you hurt him Ill-"  
  
"Now, now, Severus, you know I would never harm an innocent boy-"  
  
Severus narrowed his eyes in disgust, seeing the evil smile on his fathers face.  
  
"-that is why it is a good thing that Potter isn't innocent."  
  
Severus snarled and made to grab his father, but his ribs protested at the sudden movement, forcing him to loose his balance and fall to his side.  
  
"Didn't I tell you earlier that it wasn't a good idea to move?"  
  
***  
  
Harry found himself chained to a dirt wall in a small cell. It looked awful, and red covered the walls, looking a lot like blood. Harry almost gagged at the smell. It reeked of vomit and blood, and Harry felt his whole body was dirty as soon as he stepped one foot in there.  
  
Harry looked over to Pettigrew. He hadn't said a word to him since Harry had been in there. But Harry had heard Lucius Malfoy tell him to guard over him and to make sure he didn't escape.  
  
But Harry needed to distract himself; he didn't want his mind to wonder back to his father. But Harry also wanted answers. And he couldn't think of a better time then now.  
  
"Wormtail?"  
  
"So you know my little nick-name do you boy?" Pettigrew smirked and leaned against the wall furthest from Harry.  
  
Harry ignored the question and the disgusting look on Pettigrew's face and continued.  
  
"Why did you turn on my parents? Why turn to Voldemort?"  
  
"What makes you think I would tell you anything?"  
  
"Was it Black?"  
  
That question took him off guard. "What?"  
  
"Well obviously Black set everything up, I was told he was very smart, well he was obviously smart enough to fool my parents..." Harry's face twisted in disgust. He didn't believe that, he believed that Black was more foolish then anything. A smart person would never turn to Voldemort.  
  
"I'll have you know you little piece of filth, that I was the one that did it. I was the one to fool your stupid parents, I was the one that was the spy, I was the one that was able to fool Sirius into letting me be James and Lily's Secret Keeper, and I was the one that was able to fool everyone." Pettigrew sounded swollen with pride, so very arrogant.  
  
Harry growled in anger and lunged at him, feeling enraged that he would talk about his parents that way. But the chains that were around his wrists stopped him from getting very far and all he ended up doing was bruising his wrists and apparently entertaining Pettigrew, as his hollow laugh filled the dark and dirty cell.  
  
Harry stopped and settled for his best glare, one that would make his father proud.  
  
Harry closed his eyes and tried to think what to do. When he had been in other situations that were life threatening he had always had someone to help him get out. It had normally always been his father, Remus or Dumbledore. But none of them knew where he was.  
  
Harry felt despair welling up again inside of him. He started to tremble with fear, he felt so scared and alone. He was somewhere that he didn't know where, his father was possibly dead or seriously hurt. He doubted that anyone had figured out that he was gone yet. And now he was alone with a Death Eater, with more to come most likely, and not to mention that Voldemort would no doubt make an appearance. He had said in one of Harry's dreams that he had wanted to kill him. Now nothing was going to stop him.  
  
Pettigrew's laughs filled the cell again. "What's the matter Potter, feeling scared?"  
  
Harry again felt anger fill him, but instead of lunging out at Pettigrew like he wanted to, he remained still. Fighting would get him nowhere. Instead he thought about his father. What would he tell him to do? He would... say to remain calm, to... not let the attacker see his feelings, to find out what their weaknesses were. Get the upper hand.  
  
Harry smiled, that would be what his father would say. But how was he, an eleven year old supposed to do that?  
  
He needed to get Pettigrew to do something foolish, and Harry had already demonstrated that anger was a way to do something foolish. So perhaps if he did something to anger Pettigrew he would do something stupid?  
  
But what would anger Pettigrew? Harry thought back to conversations in which Remus had told him about him. But Remus had only ever said nice things about him, nothing that Harry could use now.  
  
Harry sighed and thought about what he had learned recently about Pettigrew. He had been able to get him to talk just by saying that Black had been smart enough to plan everything out. When he thought back to it, he had sounded as though he didn't think Pettigrew to be wise enough to do something like that without help. Remus had always said that he was shy, that he was often quiet and constantly had trouble with his work in class. Harry had imagined Pettigrew to be a bit like Neville Longbottom, a boy who was also in Gryffindor. But now that thought gave him the creeps.  
  
But Harry suddenly looked up, a thought only then hitting him. Had he said before that he had been able to able to fool Black into letting him be his parents Secret Keeper? That didn't make sense.  
  
"What do you mean you were able to fool Black?" Harry started to feel dread begin to feel him again, but not for himself. But for a man he didn't know.  
  
Pettigrew smiled more evilly then he had all night.  
  
"Can't you piece it together? Tut tut, your father would be disgusted. He prided himself on being able to figure things out before anyone else." There was disgust in his own voice, he had obviously not been too happy with that trait of his fathers.  
  
"Black is innocent?" Harry gasped.  
  
Pettigrew didn't need to answer, his smile spoke clearly for him.  
  
"How?"  
  
Pettigrew snorted. "Why in Merlin's name would I tell you? Besides, you don't have enough time left in your pathetic small life to hear it all." He laughed as he saw Harry's face pale.  
  
"Don't worry Potter, I'll make sure your little friends don't find out. I'm content for the moment with having Black in Azkaban. I'm sure those Dementors are treating him well." He again laughed. "But believe me when I tell you this-" Pettigrew's voice suddenly became low and all humor was gone from both his face and his voice. "-the pain you go through tonight, I'll make sure everyone you care about goes through worse."  
  
Harry took a sharp intake of breath, feeling fear for his friends.  
  
"You would be surprised what I know Potter, small things tend to go un- noticed, and I am able to become small at will."  
  
Harry realized he was talking about his Animagi form. A rat.  
  
Before Harry could ask anymore questions the cell door opened and out stepped another person wearing the Death Eater attire.  
  
"He is ready for him now..."  
  
Pettigrew nodded, but he looked slightly more nervous now. He waved his wand and the chains that were attached to Harry disappeared. Then Pettigrew pointed his wand at Harry.  
  
"Stupefy"  
  
Harry blacked out.  
  
***  
  
"Enervate"  
  
Harry groaned. His head hurt again, but after a few more seconds, Harry realized that it was his scar that was hurting. Well, more like throbbing.  
  
Harry opened his eyes to see himself in a different room. He was surrounded by people wearing black. And standing directly over him was Voldemort. His eyes red and deadly, but Harry took a small comfort in the fact that he looked weak.  
  
"Welcome back Potter." Voldemort hissed, swiftly kicking Harry in the ribs. He then looked away and faced another Death Eater.  
  
Harry started coughing; he tightened his body in a round ball and squeezed his eyes shut. Willing the pain to go away, and praying that he would wake up and be back at Hogwarts in his bed, and this would have just been a horrible dream.  
  
"Lucius, if you wish for him to see, go and retrieve him now, but make it quick."  
  
"Yes master, thank you master."  
  
And after bowing and kissing the hem of his robs, Lucius Malfoy left.  
  
"Now Potter, I believe it is time I had a bit of fun..." Voldemort trailed off menacingly, looking far too happy.  
  
***  
  
"If you are going to kill me, then kill me. But if not then get out of my way." Severus knew he wouldn't be able to get up, he had just proved that, he could barely move now.  
  
"Believe it or not Severus, I find myself reluctant to kill you."  
  
"Then what are you planning to do? I'm sure Voldemort wont be too happy to know you let me live." Severus said sarcastically.  
  
His father flinched at name, but ignored it. "I'll be done with You-know- who by the time he finds out."  
  
Severus bitterly laughed.  
  
"I may not kill you Severus, but that doesn't mean I won't harm you..."  
  
Severus rolled his eyes at him to show that he was not afraid of anything that he would do.  
  
His father snarled at him and grabbed him roughly by the front of his clothes, bringing him to his feet, smiling as he saw a brief show of pain cover his face.  
  
"You may not care what I do to you Severus, but I'm sure you will care what I do to Potter. I believe You-know-who plans to have a bit of fun with him before he kills him. I know of a few potions that you brewed long ago that Lucius had graciously kept. I'm sure you would love thinking about the pain that they would inflict of Potter. That way you would know that you had a hand in his death." His father laughed at the obvious shock and distraught look that over took his son's face. It was definitely better then any blow or hit he could have given him.  
  
"Well Severus, I must be off." His father dropped him and Severus landed oddly on the floor, his ankle twisting in a strange angle now. "I'll be sure to tell Potter that you said good-bye"  
  
With that Severus was thrown into a classroom, and then what looked like a portrait?  
  
And before he lost himself to the world of unconsciousness he heard his father locking and silencing the room. There was no way out of this one, with no wand and him being seriously hurt, he could only hope that someone stumbled upon him, and the likelihood of that was slim to none.  
  
***  
  
Ron was talking to Draco, they had gone in the secret room that Harry had shown them earlier on in the year and were talking about Harry. They were both worried about him. Ron, although he acted fine around Harry, was still worried about what had happened when Harry had been sick for that whole day. He still hadn't told him what was wrong and Ron felt a bit hurt by it. He knew there was more to it then what Harry was saying.  
  
Draco had agreed and they both decided to keep a closer eye on him.  
  
They sat in silence for a while before Ron finally said something.  
  
"So what else did that letter from your father say?"  
  
"Nothing really, there was something about a place that I would have to go visit, I think it was that."  
  
"What place?"  
  
"I can't remember what it's called" Draco then stood up and headed for the door.  
  
"Where are you going?" Ron asked  
  
"I left it in my truck because Crabbe and Goyle were hanging around me and I didn't want them to see it."  
  
"Oh, alright then." Ron also got up.  
  
"I'll be back in a second, just stay here."  
  
Ron nodded and sat back down to wait.  
  
Draco ran out the door and headed towards the Slytherin common rooms but knocked into a figure on the way, it was his father.  
  
"Why are you all the way down here boy? I've wasted precious time looking for you!" Lucius said, angrily grabbing Draco's arm and dragging him along.  
  
"What... what are you doing here father?" Draco tried not to sound scared, but his voice quivered.  
  
"Didn't you get my letter boy?" Lucius said angrily.  
  
"Umm..."  
  
"I'm taking you to your present you daft boy." Lucius was in a bad mood. It was not wise to keep his Lord waiting and his time wasted here would not go forgotten.  
  
"My-my present?" Draco felt more then apprehensive about this, the way his father was looking and his anger was making Draco wish he had stayed back with Ron. His letter hadn't said anything about his father coming and taking him away.  
  
"You know, my father waited until I was 16 to show me his first torture. Everyday after I wished that I had been shown earlier. It was beautiful. And now, I get to give you that gift today." Lucius seemed to take Draco's silence as one of awe, and not dead right horror.  
  
They walked out of the castle and headed straight into the Forbidden Forest. Draco felt himself start to shake; he had always been scared of it.  
  
With his father still holding him arm, he took out a small metal ball and within seconds they were being whisked away.  
  
***  
  
Ron had now been waiting for fifteen minutes. He was getting anxious, wondering what the letter had said.  
  
Finally after getting sick of waiting, he headed down towards the Slytherin common room. Though when he got there he realized that he had no idea what the password was.  
  
With a sigh he headed towards Severus' office. Knowing that Harry and he were probably still talking and wouldn't be happy to be interrupted, but he was too curious to know what was in that letter to care too much.  
  
He saw that the classroom door was open a crack but he still knocked. After waiting for a few seconds and not hearing one sound Ron knocked again, this time more loudly and forcefully. The force caused the door to fully open and Ron gasped at the mess that greeted his eyes.  
  
The office and classroom were trashed. Tables were turned every which way and there didn't look to be anyone in sight.  
  
He decided the only place to go would be Dumbledore's office. Something was definitely not right.  
  
Ron ran as fast as he could and again cursed as he realized he had no idea what that password was either. If only Harry was with him.  
  
He knocked on the gargoyle for five minutes after shouting out every candy and food name he could think of, but still nothing.  
  
Just as he was about to run off towards Remus' rooms a portrait behind him spoke and caused him to jump in shock.  
  
"If you are looking for Dumbledore boy I saw him in the hospital wing while I was visiting Nurse Twain in her portrait, now if you would kindly leave..." The portrait then turned its head away from him and looked like it was sleeping.  
  
"Thank you, sir!" Ron shouted as he ran off, causing the person in the portrait to jump this time.  
  
Ron was scared. What if Harry was hurt and that is why Severus' office was all messed up?  
  
He ran into the hospital wing but stopped short as he saw McGonagall.  
  
"Mr. Weasley, is there something I can do for you?" Dumbledore asked, getting up from McGonagall's side and walking over to Ron's side.  
  
"Sir-what-is she-how?" He didn't seem to be able to form a simple sentence.  
  
Dumbledore smiled kindly at him. "Ron, Professor McGonagall will be fine, she just had a nasty fall. Now what seems to be the problem?"  
  
Ron finally took his eyes off his transfiguration professor and looked up at Dumbledore and into his eyes, they seemed to help calm him down and he was able to remember why he was there in the first place.  
  
Ron quickly told him about Draco, and about the state of Severus' office.  
  
"Its okay Ron, I'm sure that Severus is with Harry and Draco right now as we speak. Now just calm down and I'll take you to the Great Hall where everyone else should be, okay?"  
  
Ron nodded and started to get up, but McGonagall started to scream and Ron had to cover his ears to stop the piercing scream from bursting his eardrums.  
  
Within seconds Madam Pomfrey was over her and trying to stop her from thrashing, Dumbledore was by her side helping.  
  
***  
  
Remus slowly turned down a corridor, wondering where Harry, Draco, Severus and all the other Slytherin students were. As he headed towards the Slytherin common rooms he was opening all the door in-between to make sure that there were no stray students hanging about in there.  
  
The only Slytherins that were in the Great Hall were the ones that had been found wondering the halls.  
  
Remus opened another door to find it empty. With another sigh he shut it and kept walking. Just as he was about to go down the next corridor he saw a door that was quite hidden from the rest of them. He was getting sick of finding empty rooms and classrooms, but he went over there to find it locked. Trying the Alohomora spell, he found that it wouldn't budge. It was firmly locked. Remus thought about just continuing on, but a smell caught his senses and he stopped dead in his tracks. Looking around at the ground he saw a flicker of something, perhaps some water? The lighting was awful in the corridor, as Remus muttered a spell and it instantly lit up.  
  
Blood, the red substance was unmistakably blood. Remus felt himself go on high alert. His ears strained to hear anything that might be of help, he narrowed his eyes and look at every part of the corridor, his eyes coming to rest on the still locked door.  
  
Concentrating on smell, he tried to define what was around him. With horror he realized that it was not only blood, but also fear and pain.  
  
Remus tried several spells but the door wouldn't budge. Finally Remus gave up, he instead stood a bit away from the door, closed his eyes and gathered up every ounce of strength he could find within himself. Feeling ready he lunged at the door and with a loud crack the door broke apart.  
  
Remus breathed heavily and ignored the now sharp pain coming from his shoulder from where he had run into the door. He surely had a broken shoulder and a few nasty bruises.  
  
He looked around and his eyes were telling him that the room was empty, but his nose and instinct were telling him a different story. Something or someone was in here. And they were hurt.  
  
He walked around the desks and could still find nothing. Thinking that the room seemed familiar to him, he tried to remember if he had been in there before.  
  
Looking at the empty portrait at the end of the room Remus suddenly remembered. James, Sirius, Peter and he had been in this very same room years and years ago. Peter had fallen through the portrait when he had leaned on it.  
  
Remus walked over to the portrait and did exactly as he remembered doing last time. He immediately felt himself falling and was only just able to catch himself before he hit the ground. His younger self hadn't had the same luck, but either did James or Sirius when they had followed, each looking for Peter.  
  
Remus didn't know what he had been expecting to find, but Severus on the ground almost dead was not one of them.  
  
"Severus! Severus can you hear me?" Remus bent down next to him and felt for a pulse, but was shocked to find he still had one, though it was very weak. He had to get him to Madam Pomfrey now.  
  
"Hold on Severus, help is coming." Remus said to him while levitating him into the air and rushing back out the room.  
  
Once he was in the hospital wing he saw Ron, Dumbledore and Pomfrey all talking in a hushed voices, McGonagall unconscious and silent beside them.  
  
"Poppy quick, he needs help!" Remus yelled, lowering Severus onto a bed and turning to see Pomfrey running over to him, with Dumbledore trailing. Ron was staring at Severus in shock, not moving.  
  
Remus walked over to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, and they watched as Dumbledore was kicked out of the room by Pomfrey and told to move away while she did her work.  
  
"What happened Remus?" Dumbledore asked gravely once he too was standing by them.  
  
"I'm not sure Albus, I found him in a classroom like that."  
  
"And Harry?"  
  
"No sign Albus, I wasn't able to check the Slytherin common room yet either."  
  
Before the conversation could be continued Madam Pomfrey walked over to them.  
  
"How is he Poppy?" Dumbledore asked, a bit of hope flickering over his eyes.  
  
"He is stable headmaster, but we won't know until he wakes up. I healed his broken ankle and ribs, and he punctured a lung, but the worst was a hit to the head. I'm not sure how he'll be when he wakes up."  
  
"So what are we waiting for? Why don't you wake him up now?" Remus asked.  
  
"I'm afraid Remus that we must wait for him to wake up by himself." Pomfrey said apologetically to him.  
  
"What do you mean wait for him to wake up, that could take ages and he could very well have the answers to where Harry is!" Remus said in anger.  
  
"And Draco" Ron added, looking just as angry as Remus did.  
  
"Waking him up could cause serious damage. There is a chance that he could lose his memory. That wouldn't help you any now would it?" Poppy snapped just as forcefully.  
  
"So you want us to just sit around and wait for him to wake up?" Remus glared at her, showing true anger to her. Something that he was known never to do.  
  
"Of course she isn't Remus. Now I would like you to round the rest of the students up, and search for Harry and Draco. I'll escort Mr. Weasley here back to the Great Hall and then inform the Ministry of the situation. They should provide some help. Poppy is perfectly able to look after both Severus and Minerva until we return. And if any changes occur, she shall inform us immediately." Dumbledore looked at Pomfrey and saw her nod her head in agreement.  
  
Remus nodded his head also and watched as Dumbledore and Ron made their way for the door, both stopping and looking over to him as they saw that he was not following.  
  
"Poppy, I'm sorry about earlier-"  
  
"Nonsense, I've dealt with a lot worse." She looked over at Severus and half smiled, half winced as she thought about all the times he had yelled and cussed at her when Harry had been in the hospital wing and was not allowed to stay or see him.  
  
Remus followed her gaze and smiled at her when he saw that it landed on Severus. He too remembered a lot of those times, as he had been the one to restrain him a few times from taking a more dangerous action on her.  
  
"Come on Remus." Dumbledore said, bring back the reality and the seriousness of the situation at hand.  
  
They were all almost out the door when Ron stopped suddenly, turning around and facing Remus, his eyes widening.  
  
"The map!" Ron shouted at him and then took off at a sprint towards the Gryffindor Tower, leaving a trailing Dumbledore and Remus behind him.  
  
***  
  
"Crucio"  
  
Harry screamed and thrashed in pain. Never had one of his uncle's beatings hurt this much. He just wanted it to end.  
  
Finally Harry was released from the curse but the pain was yet to relent. For what seemed like forever Voldemort had been placing the curse on and off him.  
  
Voldemort was laughing and so were the Death Eaters surrounding him. Every laugh was like a knife scratching into his back. Painful and tormenting him.  
  
"My Lord" Harry heard someone say. He turned his pain filled head and saw a Death Eater bowing at Voldemort's feet. Harry felt disgusted that that had once been his father, long ago.  
  
"Is it done?" Voldemort hissed at him.  
  
"Yes my Lord, he is dead"  
  
Harry then realized who the voice belonged to, it was his father's father, and no doubt they were talking about him. So he was dead.  
  
Harry felt more pain go through him then the Cruciatus curse. He had lost the person he loved the most. His last and only parent that was left.  
  
"Good, bring her forward then." Voldemort hissed.  
  
A Death Eater on the other side of Harry left and came back moments later, levitating someone behind him.  
  
It was a woman, and she was dead. The smell that was radiating off her was enough to make Harry vomit. She had obviously been dead for some time; though by looking at her you wouldn't have known.  
  
Voldemort laughed at Harry but the rest of the Death Eaters didn't join him, as they were too busy trying not to vomit as well. The only other person that looked fine was his father's father, who was instead looking at the woman with love.  
  
He walked over to her as she floated towards Voldemort and he stroked her hair gently.  
  
"Soon my love, soon..." He then stepped away from her and over to a cauldron which Harry hadn't noticed before.  
  
Harry then started to piece things together.  
  
The woman that they spoke of in his dream, it must have been his father's mother. That time that he saw him outside of the Potions shop all those years ago when he and Ron were in Diagon Alley for his ninth birthday, was he preparing for the potion then?  
  
Harry was stunned, had they discovered a way to bring someone back from the dead? Perhaps his father wasn't gone forever after all?  
  
Harry felt a bit of hope at that, it wasn't all lost after all, but then another two figures walked in, one large and one considerably smaller.  
  
The larger one walked over to Voldemort and bowed at him, again kissing the hems of his robes.  
  
"Master, I apologize for my lateness."  
  
Voldemort's nose twitched but he didn't say anything at first.  
  
"Were you seen?" He hissed.  
  
"No my Lord."  
  
Voldemort then turned his eyes onto the trembling figure next to him, a sick smile overcoming his features of his face.  
  
"Welcome Draco, your father has told me a lot about you."  
  
Harry again felt shocked. Draco was here? Finally it was all too much. His father was dead, he was in severe pain, he felt completely helpless and trapped, and now Draco was in the middle of it.  
  
Harry finally fell unconscious. 


	35. The Letter

Thank you to Englishgirl, angeL_1215, Corgi, Kemenran, ShortySC22, Kateri, Sela, Tenshi-Chikyuu, palanmenel, UnknownCatstar, abigfan, Dawn, Sylvester, Mia, Barbara, Lady Lightning, Kougas Woman, Prophetess Of Hearts, Silver- Phoenix, allison lightning, MarsMoonStar, Them Girl, Teigra, Fire'N'Ice, darcyfan87, Quatre Black, Tropic, stayblue, Jay, BookCrazy77, Chaos Kid, Ms. Padfoot, Shinigami06 and BaYer04rulz for reviewing! Look, another long chapter up already!  
  
Sorry, I didn't explain how Severus' mother's body was still fully intact very well; I was trying to get across that they had used an anti- decomposing charm or something on her body. I figured being wizards and all, they would be able to do something like that. I mentioned it before when Harry wanted Severus to dig up "Scabbers" but again, sorry!  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 35 - The Letter  
  
Ron was more then a little out of breath when he made it to his dorm room. He immediately fell to his knees at the foot of Harry's truck and opened it. Searching for the map he knew that Harry had in there somewhere.  
  
After a few seconds of frantic searching he found it. He quickly pulled it out and ran over to his bed, kneeling in front of it, he placed the map on top and then took his wand out from his robes and pointed it at the map.  
  
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."  
  
The map came alive in front of his eyes and he searched for either Harry's or Draco's names.  
  
Dumbledore and Remus finally entered.  
  
"Ron- what do- you think- you are- doing?" Remus gasped out, trying to catch his breath.  
  
"I can't find them anywhere. Not Harry or Draco."  
  
Remus looked down at the map and picked it up, he too searching. Finally having caught his breath he spoke. "Why is it that in every situation where the map would be most useful, we are always last to think of it?"  
  
"Now you are certain that you do not know where Harry or Draco could be at this time Ron?" Dumbledore asked seriously, not answering Remus' question.  
  
"Well all I know about Harry is that he was supposed to meet his dad in his office for something. And then Draco left to..." Ron's eyes widened.  
  
"Yes Ron?" Remus prompted.  
  
"Draco went to his common room because he was getting a letter from his father."  
  
"What was in the letter?" Remus asked.  
  
Ron shook his head and shrugged. "His father mentioned his Christmas present. He said that his father was going to get him tonight to show Draco. Draco was going to check where it was that he was going." Ron then frowned. "So Draco's father must have come and collected him to take him wherever it was that he was to be going. But that doesn't help us with Harry though does it?"  
  
"Perhaps it does..." Dumbledore seemed to be thinking, scratching his chin.  
  
"Remus, I want you to take the map and get the rest of the students to the Great Hall, and try to and find Draco's letter."  
  
Remus nodded and started to head towards the door, map in his hand.  
  
"Wait, Draco said that he had put it in his trunk."  
  
Remus nodded at Ron and then left.  
  
"Come along Mr. Weasley. I think its time I took you to the Great Hall."  
  
Ron's shoulders slumped, he still wanted to help. But he nodded at Dumbledore and let him lead the way towards the Great Hall.  
  
They walked in silence and when they were about half way there, a frantic Pomfrey found them.  
  
"Headmaster quick, Severus has awoken."  
  
She hurried off and Dumbledore and Ron quickly followed.  
  
***  
  
"Severus?" Dumbledore said urgently as he rushed into the Hospital Wing.  
  
Severus looked up from what he was doing. Once Madam Pomfrey had gone he had got changed as quickly as he could. His ankle was a hit sore and his ribs felt bruised. But the worst was his head, it ached. But nothing was going to stop him.  
  
"Severus, I thought I told you to stay in bed. You are in no condition to be out-"  
  
"I'm fine." Severus snapped out while tying up his shoelaces.  
  
"And where do you think you're going?" Pomfrey glared at him.  
  
"To get Harry, that's where!"  
  
"Do you know where he is?" Ron stepped forward and looked hopefully into Severus' eyes.  
  
Severus stopped what he was doing and looked up and at Ron.  
  
"No, but I know who has him."  
  
"Severus, I insist that you tell us all that you know."  
  
"Albus, Harry needs help. I'm not going to just sit around here and tell you a long bloody story." Severus snapped and made to get up but Dumbledore put one strong hand on Severus' chest and pushed him back down.  
  
"Severus, please." His voice though sounded pleadingly, had a tone that left no room for argument.  
  
Remus rushed in at that point, quickly muttering to Albus that everyone was now in the Great Hall, except for Ron.  
  
"Remus, would you please escort Mr. Weasley-"  
  
"No, Sir please, I want to hear this." Ron begged Dumbledore.  
  
"Severus, continue." Dumbledore finally said.  
  
Ron smiled at Dumbledore thankfully and then paid attention to Severus.  
  
"Well after I left here, I found my office and classroom in a mess. There were curse marks all over the place. I quickly went in search for Harry and I found him with a Death Eater. I was hit from behind before I could do anything, but I did see who the Death Eater was. Their mask wasn't on." Severus looked up at Remus. "It was Peter Pettigrew."  
  
Remus took a step back and gasped.  
  
"The next thing I remember was waking up with a Death Eater next to me." This time Severus looked at Dumbledore. "It was my father. He said that he had made a deal with Voldemort. That he would give him Harry, if Voldemort gave him something. I'm not sure what, he wouldn't tell me. Then I passed out and woke up in here." Severus finished quickly.  
  
"Are you saying that Harry was taken away by Death Eaters?" Ron gasped.  
  
"Was Lucius Malfoy there?" Remus asked.  
  
"He could have been, but what does it matter?"  
  
"I'm not sure. But I found out where Draco is." Remus held up the letter to Dumbledore.  
  
"What do you mean you found out where Draco is?"  
  
"He too went missing."  
  
Severus sat back down on his bed in shock.  
  
Dumbledore looked over the letter and frowned.  
  
"Where is the 'Lair de serpent'?"  
  
***  
  
"Come on boy, wake up!"  
  
Harry felt someone slap him across his face and he quickly snapped his eyes open, feeling startled.  
  
"Now Potter, we wouldn't want you to miss all the fun now would we." Voldemort sneered at him from across the other side of the circle.  
  
Harry retreated back into himself and tried to move back from Voldemort but the Death Eater standing behind him kicked him back into the middle of the group.  
  
Harry whimpered, and looked up and into Draco's eyes. He could see the fear and shock in his eyes. They were all laughing at him except for Draco. Why was he here?  
  
"I like to reward my faithful servants well, which is what I plan to do here tonight. Wormtail, bring Potter to me."  
  
Harry saw a Death Eater, Pettigrew, walk over to him, and will trembling hands, he grabbed him by the arms and dragged him along and unceremoniously dropped him by Voldemort's feet.  
  
"Blood" Voldemort casually said to Pettigrew.  
  
Pettigrew pulled a dagger from out of his robes, bent down next to Harry, and then tightly held his arm with his hand that had the missing finger. Harry could tell because the glove he was wearing only had four fingers to it.  
  
He slowly brought back the dagger and then stabbed Harry in the arm, dragging the blade down and causing the cut to go deeper.  
  
Harry cried out in pain and tried to pull his arm away from Pettigrew, but his grip was too strong.  
  
Harry saw Draco take a step towards him but his father placed a strong hand on his shoulder that stopped him from moving, giving him a warning look.  
  
Pettigrew put the dagger back into his robe and then pulled out a vial, his other arm still holding Harry. He then put the vial up to where the blood was pouring freely out of his arm and let the vial fill.  
  
After what felt like a very painful eternity Pettigrew pulled away, giving the now full vial to Voldemort who held it up to his eyes and smiled.  
  
While he still looked at it, he spoke to Harry, but still loud enough for everyone else to hear. "I realized what happened that night Potter, but what it really was, was a blessing in disguise. You're blood is different, unique you might say. The love-" Voldemort spat out that word. "-you have running through you, in your blood is very powerful. And I intend to use it to its full potential."  
  
Harry was barely listening; instead he was cradling his arm and trying to be as small as possible, huddling up into a ball.  
  
Voldemort then went and tipped the blood into the cauldron and watched as it sizzled and hissed before finally settling.  
  
Everyone watched in either horror or anticipation at what would happen.  
  
After a few moments Severus' father took a flask and filled it up with the potion. Everyone was finally able to get a look at it, and it looked positively disgusting. It had blotches of green, red, and occasionally yellow could be distinguished. Harry felt his mouth go dry and any thought of eating food in the near future were gone. But then he doubted he would have much of one, it didn't look like he would live past tonight.  
  
Severus' father walked over to the body of his wife which was now lying on the ground. He smoothed her hair back and then he opened her mouth and poured the potion inside. Once he could fit no more into her mouth, he put the flask back and kept one hand over her mouth keeping it shut tightly.  
  
He kneeled down next to her and lifted the top part of her body off the ground and rested her upon his legs and began to stroke her throat, helping the potion to slide down and into her stomach.  
  
Everyone seemed to hold their breath as they waited for something to happen. But the seconds started to turn into minutes, and still nothing happened.  
  
Severus' father looked up from what he was doing and to Voldemort, who nodded his head at him signaling to keep going.  
  
Then suddenly her body jerked, and it started to spasm uncontrollably. Her mouth opened and it seemed as if a silent scream was coming from her mouth, and yet not one sound came out, not a whimper, not a cry. Nothing.  
  
Finally she stopped moving, and opened her eyes.  
  
"Amanda?" Severus' father gasped, a tear falling down his face. "You don't know how long I've waited for this moment. I've missed you so much." He then pulled her close and hugged her tightly, but she didn't return it, she didn't even move her arms. He seemed to notice this too and pulled back.  
  
"Amanda honey, are you alright?" He brought his hand to her chin and looked deeply into her eyes. And still, she just stared at him and didn't move.  
  
Harry could see the love and hope in his eyes, yet in hers he didn't see anything.  
  
"What's- What's wrong with her?" He asked, not taking his eyes away from his wife.  
  
"Nothing is wrong with her. She is perfectly alive you idiot." Voldemort snapped at him, obviously getting angry at him. Any sane person would have kept quiet after that, but it seemed Severus' father had a death wish.  
  
"Then why isn't she responding to me?"  
  
Voldemort's nostrils flared and his top lip twitched in anger but he spoke with a dead calm voice.  
  
"That is what you get, you can do as you please with her, she won't complain." Voldemort had as sick, twisted smile on his face, one that made Harry feel like throwing up again.  
  
"That wasn't our deal"  
  
"Our deal was that you bring me Potter, and I bring you your pathetic wife back from the dead. She is quite clearly alive-"  
  
"Alive! She doesn't move, doesn't say a word, does she even have a bloody soul?" Severus' father stood up to face Voldemort.  
  
"How dare you! I have been more then generous to you and this is the thanks I get? I don't think so." Voldemort lifted his wand and barely was able to get any words out before he spoke again.  
  
"You told me I would get my wife back-"  
  
"There is no bloody way to get a whole person back from the dead. Don't you think if there was then it would be more known? Even if it were dark magic, more people would be walking around-"  
  
"Then our deal is off. I'll just take Potter back-"  
  
"You're not going anywhere." Voldemort hissed.  
  
Harry and the rest of the Death Eaters plus Draco had been watching the conversation get slowly into more and more dangerous ground. It seemed Voldemort's anger was evident to everyone there except Severus' father. He didn't even seem scared of him. Completely blinded for the love of his wife, enough so to join Voldemort, bring him back to the world, harm his own son and deliver an innocent boy pretty much to his death, just to get his wife back. It would have been sweet if it hadn't have cause so much damage and pain to so many people.  
  
"Crucio" Voldemort hissed.  
  
Severus' father hit the ground and ducked the curse easily, causing a Death Eater nearby to take the curse instead  
  
Voldemort soon ended it and pointing his wand at the now crouching man.  
  
"Avada Kedavra"  
  
This time his aim was true. Severus' father now lay on the floor not moving. His face showed no sigh of shock or pain, it was just blank.  
  
***  
  
Severus looked up quickly.  
  
"This is where it says Draco was to be taken." Dumbledore explained, still scanning the letter.  
  
"What" Severus huffed, he again stood up.  
  
"Where is it Severus?" Dumbledore asked urgently, looking up from the letter.  
  
"I-I don't know. But it was what Voldemort would call his headquarters. It's French for Snake Lair."  
  
"Then you must know, you were-" Remus started but Severus cut him off.  
  
"He would change it all the time. I doubt he would have kept the same one he had all those years ago Lupin. Especially now the Ministry is now aware of it since all those trials happened" Severus glared at Remus.  
  
"Why would Draco's father take him there?" Ron asked confused.  
  
"That is most likely where Harry has been taken, so why would Lucius take him there? It makes no sense." Remus agreed with Ron.  
  
"Oh no." Severus closed his eyes and brought his hand to his head, rubbing it lightly.  
  
"Severus? Are you alright? Is it your head, come on, let me have a look." Pomfrey walked towards Severus but he shooed her away.  
  
"Albus, may I have a look at that letter." Severus tried to stay calm.  
  
Dumbledore wordlessly handed the letter over to him.  
  
Severus skimmed through it and dread filled his eyes. "You bastard." Severus whispered.  
  
"What is it Severus?"  
  
Severus sighed and looked into Dumbledore's eyes. "I know why Draco is at 'Lair de serpent'.  
  
***  
  
Harry was slightly fascinated as he saw the curse fly through the air and hit his Severus' father. That same curse had killed his parents.  
  
He got the feeling that Severus' father could have moved out of the way that time, his face also sided with that realization. There was no shock there, just resignation.  
  
"My Lord-" A Death Eater came running in and was breathing in deeply, obviously he had run to get there. "-the wards have been broken. Aurors are on their way."  
  
"Impossible, how did they know we were here?" One of the Death Eaters shouted, sounding worried. There was a soft murmur that went through the crowd of Death Eaters but Voldemort silenced them with a loud hiss.  
  
"Silence, they are here for the change of night shift at Azkaban you idiots. Now we just have to make sure that we don't attract any attention to ourselves and they shall pass." Voldemort looked accusingly down at every one of his Death Eaters, eventually resting on Harry.  
  
"Nagini-" A snake Harry hadn't noticed before looked up from its nap from the other side of the room, where it had been hidden by the Death Eaters previously and slowly slid its way to Voldemort. "-go outsssside and make ssssure the Aurors keep going."  
  
Everyone seemed edgy in the room as the snake wove in and out of their feet, making its way to one of the two exits. It stopped in front of Harry.  
  
"Ssssoon I'll get to eat you, sssssoon..." It then kept going, leaving Harry feeling pale and even more scared.  
  
Voldemort smiled at him. "Lucius, take Potter down to his cell, As much as I would like to finish him off now, I'm not done playing with him yet."  
  
Harry shivered at the thought and then was roughly pulled up into a standing position.  
  
"Come along Draco."  
  
They walked along the halls until they finally came back to the cell Harry had been in earlier.  
  
Lucius chained Harry back up against the wall and started to walk back out.  
  
"Father, can I stay here?" Draco asked timidly.  
  
"You need to get back to Hogwarts Draco."  
  
"Please father, just for a little while."  
  
His father smiled at him and ruffled his hair. "I suppose you can taunt him for a little while, but I have to take you back to Hogwarts soon, that muggle-loving fool has most likely noticed you missing by now."  
  
"Thank you father" Draco said sweetly, a grin covering his face.  
  
"That's my boy. You'll do me proud one day Draco" His father then left through the doorway, leaving it open and stalked away. He obviously didn't think Harry would be going anywhere.  
  
***  
  
"Are you sure Severus?" Remus gasped, shocked at what Severus had just told them.  
  
"Yes, I remember Lucius bragging about it the next day. He would always say that when it came to his kids, he wouldn't wait that long. I hadn't even thought about it until now."  
  
"So Draco is seeing Harry getting tortured?" Ron felt sick.  
  
Severus felt sorry for Ron, this boy he had known for almost as long as Harry.  
  
"What are we going to do Albus?" Remus asked quietly, feeling lost and hopeless.  
  
"I'll need to contact the Ministry immediately. They may have some leads on where they could be." Dumbledore looked gravely at them all and then quickly exited.  
  
***  
  
As soon as Lucius was gone the grin left Draco's face and turned to a wince.  
  
"This place is disgusting." He put his fingers to his nose and blocked it.  
  
Harry stared wearily at him, still a bit unsure of him.  
  
"You alright Harry?" Draco walked over to him and kneeled down so they were eyelevel.  
  
"Why are you here Draco?" Harry ignored his question, not really sure how to answer it.  
  
"This is my Christmas present." Draco looked around in hatred. "If I had known, I would have purposely done something so bad that he would have taken this 'privilege' as he calls it away from me."  
  
Harry sighed and looked Draco in the eye. "So then why are you still here now? You could be back at Hogwarts by now if you had left with him"  
  
"Well to get you out of course" Draco answered as if it were obvious.  
  
"Draco, you do know that you could just stay with your father and get out of here alive."  
  
Draco looked down at his lap and fidgeted with his wand which he had just pulled out from his robes. He sighed and then looked up at Harry. "I know."  
  
"Then why don't you?"  
  
Draco sat down on the ground fully and let his shoulders slump, thinking about Harry's words.  
  
"I guess because, I'm not prepared to just let you die here, I'm not ready to say good bye to you just yet." Draco smiled a bit shyly at Harry.  
  
"Draco, there's a good chance that we won't make it out of here alive. Any Death Eater who will see me would kill me straight away, and there's a good chance they would to you as well."  
  
"I would rather at least try Harry; staying here you'll die for sure, at least out there we have a chance."  
  
"I would prefer you to stay with your father; at least I would know you were safe."  
  
"Two wizards make a better team then one Harry, besides I know you'll need my help." Draco said smugly.  
  
Harry smiled at him. "Okay, then you can lead the way."  
  
Draco's face fell and he looked at Harry in shock. "Why do I have to lead?"  
  
"Well you know the way out right."  
  
"I wouldn't have a clue." Draco asked honestly.  
  
Harry rolled his eyes. "How about you get me out of these chains? It will be a bit hard to escape with me stuck to this wall"  
  
Draco pointed his wand at them and did a simple banishing charm.  
  
"Thanks" Harry said while he got up off the floor, trying to steady himself. He still felt weak from having the Cruciatus curse on him for so long, plus his scar was still hurting. He straightened his glasses up, which he was sure the only reason they hadn't been broken throughout this ordeal was because of the Unbreakable charm he had put on it after he had broken them at least twenty times since the start of term.  
  
Harry then walked over to the entrance and looked out, seeing there was two ways they could go, either left or right. "What way did you come from?"  
  
Draco peered out as well and looked down both of the ways, trying to figure out which one looked more familiar. But both were poorly lit and looked identical both ways.  
  
"I'm not sure. But we should get a move on before they send someone down here."  
  
"Yeah" Harry agreed and they made their way down through to their left, deciding that was the way they should go, not for any particular reason.  
  
They crept slowly along the hall, Draco behind Harry. Every few minutes they would stop and listen, just making sure there was nobody around.  
  
Harry was sure they couldn't have gone this way before when he was brought into the cell, he didn't remember traveling for this long. When they first took Harry to his cell he was too busy with his thoughts to take any notice of where he was or what his surroundings were, he only took notice when he was already in the cell. And then he wasn't conscious when he was taken out. And again, when he was literally dumped back in there, he was in too much pain and shock to look at what way they were going.  
  
Harry was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear the footsteps coming towards them. But fortunately Draco did and he pulled Harry into a room that broke off from the wall and they both quietly hid in one of its dark corners.  
  
Harry was sure they would be able to hear his heart beating. It was pounding so loud and Harry tried to steady out his breathing and make it as quiet as he could. Looking at Draco, he imagined he was going through the same thing, but it was hard to tell since it was so dark.  
  
A few minutes later the footsteps went past the room and slowly died out.  
  
Harry let out a sigh of relief. He looked around the room to see what it was, but it was completely bare, it was just like the cell he had been in but it smelled fine and the walls weren't covered in blood and vomit. Harry felt himself pale as he thought of it.  
  
"Harry look!" Draco pulled on his arm and pointed to the other end of the room.  
  
Harry looked closely and saw what looked like a small hole. They quietly ran over to it and Harry looked out of it. There was grass on the other side. If they could get through there, then they would have a good chance of getting away.  
  
"Draco, do you think we could fit through here?" Harry asked as quietly as he could while trying to move some of the solid dirt away from it.  
  
"Are you kidding? I'd get stuck half way!"  
  
"Come on Draco, I bet you we could."  
  
"Yeah, you could. You are heaps skinny. But I actually eat Harry. There is no way I'll be able to fit."  
  
Harry glared at Draco in frustration and then sighed.  
  
"Then we will just have to make you fit. Come on, help push me through."  
  
Harry laid down flat on his stomach and slid through the hole. Once he had his head through, he had to try to squeeze his shoulders in. He brought them as far to the front on his body as they would go and uncomfortably shuffled through the hole, with Draco pushing from the other side.  
  
Finally once his shoulders were through he was able to use his arms to aid him the rest of the way.  
  
He stood up and looked around, taking in a deep breath of fresh cool air. It was absolutely freezing out there, and the fact that it was the middle of winter was more then likely why.  
  
Shivering he bent back down and told Draco to come through.  
  
He saw Draco's hands merge through first, which Harry was able to grab hold of and pull, and much like Harry had, Draco finally got through. It was a tighter fit and Draco would probably have a few bruises where his ribs and shoulders had been squashed, but he was alright.  
  
Smiling at each other they quickly made their way to the corner of the building. Looking around it they didn't see anyone. You would think they would have guards around the place, but it seemed they didn't. Probably to make it seem to anyone else like it was abandoned and empty.  
  
Harry nodded to the forest and frowned as Draco's eyes widened and he shook his head.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"I don't like the forest."  
  
Harry's shoulders slumped and he looked at Draco pleadingly. "Do you have any other better ideas?"  
  
Draco looked around and tried to find another way out.  
  
"Look Draco, it's either the forest or the open road where we will be easily seen."  
  
Draco looked back at Harry and then the forest. With a sigh and a slightly more trembling body, he moved towards it, Harry following him.  
  
Just as they were about to enter the thick of it Harry stopped Draco.  
  
"They would know we are gone by now right..."  
  
"Most likely. Why?"  
  
"So it won't matter... if we did something noticeable now would it?" Harry felt a small smile coming over his face.  
  
"It depends... what do you have it mind?" Draco asked more then a bit hesitantly.  
  
"Can I borrow your wand?"  
  
"Why don't you use your own wand?" Draco held his wand closer to him, tightening his grip.  
  
"Do you honestly think they would have let me keep my wand? They may be stupid but they aren't that stupid Draco. Here, I'll show you." Harry went to his pockets and emptied them out onto the ground. Harry gasped as he saw not only his wand was still there, but he also had some chocolate frogs. "Well I guess you can never underestimate the idiocy of a Death Eater..."  
  
Draco smiled smugly and bent down to grab a chocolate frog.  
  
"Draco, we need to save these for later. Who knows how long we will be in this forest." Harry grabbed the chocolate frogs out of his hand and then took his wand.  
  
"But I'm hungry!" Draco whined.  
  
Harry didn't answer but walked back over to the edge of the forest, holding his wand out.  
  
"Fireworkso"  
  
Draco gasped from behind him as he saw large, colorful and very loud fireworks erupt in the air just over the building.  
  
Harry turned to Draco.  
  
"That ought to attract the Aurors attention don't you think?" Harry asked innocently.  
  
"Hey, so why don't we just wait for them to come, they could help us."  
  
"Because, we can't be certain that they will get here before Death Eaters find us, we can't even be sure that they can see that." Harry pointed to the Fireworks up above. "We can't stay here and wait for them to catch us."  
  
Draco took one last look at the fireworks that were still erupting in the sky, and then took off after Harry, who had already begun walking back through the forest. 


	36. Survival

Thank you to Jay, ShortySC22, Lady Lightning, Kemenran, Mia, Tenshi- Chikyuu, Chaos Kid, angeL_1215, Ms. Padfoot, Kateri, Layce74, BaYer04rulz, Them Girl, Corgi, Shinigami06, Barbara, Fire'N'Ice, MarsMoonStar, BookCrazy77, Zaeria, sunne, Sela, takari4ever7, Silver-Phoenix, princess55, palanmenel, Cerberis, angel, ranger, Calani and soul for reviewing! You guys are all so sweet! Your comments and reviews are so encouraging, I really appreciate it that you take the time to leave a review! So again, THANK YOU!  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 36 - Survival  
  
"You two just sit there while I talk to Cornelius." Dumbledore watched as Severus and Remus sat stiffly in the two chairs that he had placed in front of his desk before he turned around and headed towards his fireplace.  
  
Severus and Remus both watched as Dumbledore was whisked away and the fireplace was brought back to normal.  
  
Severus immediately was on his feet and began pacing.  
  
"I hate to think what both Harry and Draco must be going through right now." Remus shuttered just thinking about the horrors they would both be experiencing.  
  
Severus growled. "When I get my hands on that man." Severus put his hands into balls, looking ready to strike. "I'll kill him, father or not, I swear if he lays one hand on Harry..." Severus punched the wall hard and then continued to pace, not noticing that he was now bleeding as he had broken the skin.  
  
Remus snorted. "I think we have bigger problems then him."  
  
Severus rounded on Remus and glared, obviously not knowing who Remus was talking about.  
  
"Voldemort"  
  
Severus' shoulders sagged and he looked away, and went back to pacing around the room. Surely if Voldemort had him, which was most likely true, then Harry would be dead by now. But wouldn't Draco have been returned then? Unless he had done something foolish and ended up in the same predicament as Harry, which was always a possibility.  
  
"Voldemort would have killed him by now, and if Voldemort has kept him alive, then I imagine that Harry would be in more then a considerable amount of pain and then perhaps he would be better off dead." Severus muttered, wondering if perhaps he was suffering at the hands of one of his potions. His father's words still echoed in his head.  
  
"Harry has always managed to get himself out of trouble before, maybe he's alright-"  
  
"Oh grow up Lupin. Harry may be smart, and have a knack of getting himself out of trouble just as much as in, but facing Voldemort and escaping is a bit different then outrunning Filch as he chases you for changing his cat's hair blue."  
  
Severus started to pace faster.  
  
"You can't just give up Severus, not without some proof that Harry-"  
  
"Well waiting for proof did a lot of good last time didn't it?" Severus snapped at Remus, referring to how Remus didn't believe Harry about Pettigrew until he could see some proof.  
  
Remus sighed and looked at the ground. "No, I guess it didn't."  
  
Severus growled again, he just wanted to be out looking for Harry, not stuck in this office.  
  
***  
  
"Ah Cornelius, I'm glad that you are still here."  
  
"Yes well, as the muggle saying goes, no rest for the wicked."  
  
Dumbledore smiled politely at Fudge and then his face grew serious again. He took a step closer to Fudge, who was looking carefully at a piece of parchment in his hands. "Cornelius, may I have word?"  
  
Fudge looked up from his reading and stopped in the hallway.  
  
"Yes, what is it?  
  
"I believe a more appropriate area is needed."  
  
Fudge looked like he would say that where they were was fine, but the almost dead look in Dumbledore's eyes was enough to make him agree. "Oh alright, into my office then."  
  
Dumbledore followed Fudge into a large room where a woman was sitting at a desk, talking to someone through the fire.  
  
Fudge ignored her and continued walking, taking a few stacks of parchment that was floating next to his door and then entering the office.  
  
"Have a seat." Fudge said distractedly.  
  
"Thank you Cornelius." Dumbledore sat.  
  
"Tea?"  
  
"No thank you."  
  
"Now what was it that you wanted to discuss?" Fudge put the parchment away and looked at Dumbledore, showing him that he had his full attention.  
  
"Cornelius, what I am about to tell you is a lot speculation, but I do have some proof to what I am about to say."  
  
"Go on." Fudge said more then hesitantly.  
  
"What I do know is that Hogwarts has been attacked, two teachers, and at least one student were at the end of that attack. Professor McGonagall is currently in the hospital wing, and in a very bad condition. She was exposed to the Cruciatus curse for a very long time and it is still unsure if she will make it." Dumbledore paused, not only to let Fudge take in what he had just said, but to also gather his own thoughts. "I also know that a Death Eater has kidnapped Harry Potter." Dumbledore held his hand up to stop the inevitable comment that was to come out of Fudge's already open mouth. "Yes I do have proof. Professor Snape witnessed Harry being taken by the Death Eater, before he could help he was too also attacked. Severus was just found an hour ago my Remus Lupin and has now been released from the hospital wing, but he was quite badly injured. It is still unknown where Harry is, but we do know that he is no longer at Hogwarts."  
  
Fudge looked like a fish out of water, he just gaped at Dumbledore.  
  
"Also another student is missing, Draco Malfoy, but it is believed that his father came and took him out, as a letter was found explaining to Draco that he would be picked up." Dumbledore paused. "Now this is where my speculation begins. I believe that Minerva was attacked by Death Eaters, as it is unlikely that any student would use an unforgivable. I also believe that Voldemort-" Fudge winced. "-is alive and has called a Death Eater meeting somewhere, and that is where Harry is now. I also think that that was where Draco's father took him tonight."  
  
"Albus, do you know what you are saying!"  
  
"Yes, Cornelius, I'm afraid I do."  
  
"You-Know-who, Death Eaters, Lucius Malfoy, he is a respected member of the wizarding com-"  
  
"I would like to remind you to what happened almost 6 years ago that had him being dismissed from this very ministry-"  
  
"So he made a bad choice, you can't expect everyone to be-"  
  
"Yes, but what makes you so sure that that is the only bad choice he made?"  
  
Fudge looked away from Dumbledore and looked to be doing some quick thinking. His shoulders' sagging was taken as a good sign by Dumbledore who was waiting to see if Fudge would help or not.  
  
"Are you sure?" Fudge looked like he very much wanted to dismiss what Dumbledore had just said, but the look coming through Dumbledore's eyes were enough to make people stop. Never had his eyes looked so lifeless.  
  
Dumbledore nodded gravely.  
  
"What is it that you want me to do exactly?"  
  
"I would like Aurors to be stationed at Hogwarts incase another attack happens, the students shall not be put in any more danger. I'm sure the public would feel better knowing that their children and schools were safe, a fast acting Minister makes a good image Cornelius."  
  
"Of course" Fudge wrote something down on a blank piece of parchment.  
  
"I would also like to know if there have been any unusual occurrences or sightings that have happened in the last few hours"  
  
"Minister" A woman, the same one that was at the desk outside Fudge's office rushed into the room and over to his desk, cutting off anything Fudge was about to say.  
  
"What is it now Irene?" Fudge snapped at her, breaking his eye contact with Dumbledore.  
  
"There has been a report of trouble from the Aurors at Azkaban." Irene said in a rush.  
  
"Trouble? What type of trouble?" Fudge looked a bit alarmed.  
  
Dumbledore wondered if Voldemort had already gotten the Dementors on his side, as it was bound to happen sooner or later.  
  
"They noticed a disturbance, some fireworks I believe. They have asked permission to go and investigate."  
  
Dumbledore sighed; he supposed he should be grateful that the Dementors were still at their post.  
  
"Yes, yes alright." Fudge obviously just wanted to get her away, using his hands to shoo her off.  
  
"There you have it Albus, that is the most unusual occurrence that has happened, so if you will excuse me-"  
  
"Yes, of course Cornelius, I'll leave you to your work. But if you do-"  
  
"Yes, yes, I'll be in contact." Fudge rushed off out of his office and down the hall.  
  
Dumbledore watched him go and then lit a fire in the fireplace that Fudge had in his office, making his way back to his own office.  
  
***  
  
Dumbledore stepped through the fireplace and unsurprisingly found Severus pacing the floor and Remus sitting a bit less then calmly in the chair that Dumbledore had left him in.  
  
"Did you find anything out?" Remus immediately asked as he stood up and looked at Dumbledore hopefully.  
  
"I'm afraid not, but Fudge seems to be cooperating so far. We are to get Aurors to guard the school within an hour."  
  
"Bit late for that now." Severus muttered bitterly.  
  
"What are we to do now?" Remus asked, but inside he absolutely agreed with Severus.  
  
"We need to make sure calm insures, we can not have the students worried. We shall set up patrols to secure the area, perhaps some responsible 7th years can help with that. I will round up some of the professors and we will start on those extra wards that we were talking about earlier Severus, and I want around the clock supervision on the students in the Great Hall."  
  
"What about Harry?" Severus snapped, stopping from his pacing and standing directly in front of Dumbledore.  
  
"You know Severus, that I would prefer to send you both out to look for him, but the fact is, is that would take too much time and you would more then likely find nothing. Our best bet is to leave it with the Aurors and in the mean time, help out here."  
  
"I'm not just going to-"  
  
"I am asking you as a friend Severus, you are better off in this castle, that way if any news comes through, you will be here to receive that information."  
  
Severus looked away.  
  
"Now, I would like you both to firstly go back to the hospital wing and get yourselves checked out."  
  
"What? I was just there-"  
  
"Remus, I have noticed that your shoulder doesn't quite look right and don't think I can't see that blood all over your hand Severus."  
  
Remus tried lifting his shoulder and found that he couldn't. Why hadn't he noticed that before? It must have been like that since he found Severus.  
  
After a few more minutes of instructions, Dumbledore watched as Severus and Remus both got up and left, heading towards the hospital wing.  
  
***  
  
Harry and Draco were running and they had been running for what felt like hours but was only actually an hour. They had started out fast and slowly they had begun to get slower and slower as their bodies tired.  
  
Finally they both had to stop and catch their breaths.  
  
Harry's body ached especially, having been thrown around and then the Cruciatus curse placed on him was causing his limbs to scream in protest to every step he was taking. He was glad when they started to walk through the forest instead as it wasn't as painful as running.  
  
Finally after so much silence Draco couldn't take it anymore. "So do you want to tell me what happened?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Harry replied, glad for the distraction.  
  
"Well how did you start off at Hogwarts, but end up out here."  
  
Harry shrugged. "Death Eaters"  
  
"Man, I bet the professors are frantic right now looking for you. Can you think about how Ron must be taking this, Merlin, think about Professor Snape, your dad, I bet he's bloody pissed. I wouldn't want to get in his way."  
  
Harry looked away from Draco.  
  
"Harry what's wrong? I mean, I'm sure they aren't that worried" Draco started rambling, thinking that Harry must be upset that the professors would be worried about him.  
  
"He's dead..."  
  
"Who?" Draco asked, caught off guard.  
  
"My Dad"  
  
"Now Harry, you don't know that-"  
  
"I saw him get knocked out, and then before I left, a Death Eater said he would take care of him. The next time I saw that Death Eater, he said that he was dead."  
  
"Harry, I don't know what to- I'm sorry." Draco said sincerely.  
  
"Don't be, it wasn't your fault." Harry felt a flash of anger towards Voldemort and his Death Eaters flare up, but he pushed it back down.  
  
"I wonder what they were all doing back there when we left?"  
  
"Well Voldemort-" Draco winced "- was looking pretty weak. I doubt he would be able to survive a full out duel. So he was probably getting them to set up Portkeys." Harry answered logically, something his father often did.  
  
"Portkeys?"  
  
"Yeah, well didn't you hear Voldemort? He said that the Aurors were there because of a shift change for Azkaban."  
  
"So?" Draco asked, not seeing his point.  
  
"So! So that must mean that we are really close to it."  
  
"Okay, but what has that got to do with anything?"  
  
"I read in a book somewhere that you can't Apparate or Disparate in or around Azkaban. It's sort of like Hogwarts. That is why the Aurors were walking to the docks, they couldn't Apparate there."  
  
"So why didn't they just use a Portkey?"  
  
"They probably did, and they would have only been able to get to a point where they would have to check in. And now they have to walk to their next point. The ministry is very cautious."  
  
"You know what Harry; I'm too tired to care right now." Draco closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again, so he could see if he was about to walk into anything.  
  
They continued in silence for some time, they didn't stop to rest once, only for a break every once in a while.  
  
"Potter..."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"You smell"  
  
"What?" Harry looked at Draco tiredly.  
  
"I'm serious, did you throw up recently or something? Cause you really-"  
  
"Draco" Harry sighed.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Shut up"  
  
Draco smirked at Harry.  
  
Once the sun had risen and they had been walking all night Draco finally collapsed.  
  
"Draco, are you alright?"  
  
"No I'm not alright. My feet hurt, I'm hungry, I'm tired and I'm stuck in the middle of a bloody forest."  
  
Harry sighed and looked around. He saw a large bush a few metres away and he walked over to it. Pulling away some of the thick leaves he saw that the inside of it was clear. It was almost like a water fountain, the trunk being the water going up, and the leaves falling around it being the water as it fell.  
  
Harry walked back over to Draco. "That looks like a good place to rest Draco"  
  
"No, that looks like an uncomfortable place to rest."  
  
Harry rolled his eyes. "Come on"  
  
Harry helped Draco up and they both walked over to it and went in. It was a bit small but it was going to have to do. They settled on the ground and made sure that all their body parts were hidden from any onlookers on the outside of the tree. They huddled close together as it was still freezing, the fact that it wasn't snowing was a miracle as it normally was always around Christmas time.  
  
"You don't snore do you?" Harry asked as he laid his head on the hard ground, already beginning to fall asleep.  
  
"I take offence to that." Draco mumbled, he too falling asleep fast.  
  
"Good..." Harry got out before he was completely gone.  
  
***  
  
Severus was angry, it had been several hours since Dumbledore had spoke to Fudge and still there was no word on Harry. Nor had the Aurors shown up.  
  
Severus had since then cleaned his office and classroom, watched as students slept, most soundly, prowled the hallways and even helped Dumbledore with setting up extra wards, but as he was a potion master he couldn't help too much. The only useful thing he had done was slip Ron a sleeping draught.  
  
Even making potions to calm his nerves wasn't helping, he had gotten halfway through making the Wolfsbane potion when he had spotted the spoons Harry had given him for Christmas and the potion was instantly thrown against the wall in anger. He hated feeling like he was, he hated feeling so helpless.  
  
Severus had since stormed out of his office and into his personal rooms, but that had lead to seeing Harry's room, where he collapsed on the ground and just sat staring at the door, almost hoping to see Harry come through it. And that was where he had remained until now.  
  
This was why he hadn't wanted to take Harry in the first place, besides having the responsibility that he felt he couldn't handle, and Harry being James' son, he also hadn't wanted to let him get close to him. Letting Harry into his heart had left a trail that was easy to follow, and therefore now a lot easier to break his heart.  
  
Severus sighed and wiped away a couple of tears that had gotten loose.  
  
He almost jumped through the roof when the door opened, seeing it shut for so long and convincing himself that it wasn't going to be opened made it all the more a shock when it was opened. But when he saw that it was only Dumbledore he sighed and felt his heart rate go back to the pace it had been at before, slightly beating faster then it normally would, but all things considered, it was relatively calm.  
  
"Severus, I was just talking with Cornelius, it turned out that a disturbance at an abandoned house by Azkaban turned out to be more then just kids playing."  
  
Severus looked up and into Dumbledore's eyes, waiting for what he wanted to hear.  
  
"It turns out Death Eaters were swarming the place, it is believed that is where Harry is, or at least was. There has been no sign of him yet, but the fight is still going, unfortunately most seemed to have gotten away using Portkeys, and it is possible that they could have taken Harry with-"  
  
"I want to go there now." Severus got up quickly, ignoring how that made his head spin and he walked past Dumbledore and outside, to where Remus was standing.  
  
Dumbledore followed, and then stood and looked at both Remus' and Severus' determined faces. "Very well, follow me."  
  
***  
  
A few hours later Draco woke up. He looked over and saw that Harry was already awake. All he felt like doing was going back to sleep, but it seemed that he had slept with a twig digging into his back and it was starting to become unbearable. He moved and as he did he also alerted Harry that he was awake.  
  
"Draco, you finally woke up."  
  
"How long have you been awake?" Draco asked, lying back down.  
  
Harry shrugged, taking a peak outside.  
  
"Did you have any...dreams?" Draco asked hesitantly.  
  
Harry shook his head and then looked seriously at Draco. "We have to get a move on, I'd say we have been here for at least four hours, and it is not a good idea to stay in one place for too long."  
  
Draco sighed but sat up, realizing that Harry was probably right.  
  
They set back to walking, none of them having the energy to run. Harry gave Draco a couple of chocolate frogs which he gratefully took.  
  
"Don't eat it all at once, eat it slow and it will fill you up more." Harry had learned that from being with the Dursleys, one thing that actually came in handy.  
  
"Where do you think I will end up?" Draco asked as he took a small bite.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well I doubt that my father will want me back now, and if he does, I would hate to think what he would do to me..."  
  
"Would he beat you?" Harry asked, truly interested.  
  
"I don't know...He would probably kill me"  
  
"Has he ever hit you before?"  
  
"No, not really. I sometimes thought he might, he was close a few times."  
  
"What about your mother?"  
  
"What about her?"  
  
"Would she take you in?"  
  
"She would never leave my father, never." Draco said bitterly.  
  
"Well I'm sure Albus will know what to do." Harry answered confidently, having no doubt in Dumbledore.  
  
"What about you?" Draco asked a bit hesitantly, knowing that this was a delicate subject with Harry.  
  
Harry sighed and looked away and at the ground.  
  
"I'm not sure, maybe Remus, or perhaps Sirius Black if he gets free"  
  
Draco stopped walking and stared at Harry as if he were crazy.  
  
"I know, I can't believe it. To think he spent all those years in Azkaban and he was innocent."  
  
"Innocent?" Draco gasped, not believing what he was hearing.  
  
"Yeah, but I'm not to clear on the whole story. Pettigrew didn't go into much detail with his little tale." Harry said sarcastically.  
  
"If not him, then I bet you Ron's family would." Draco said, going back to the original topic.  
  
Harry smiled a bit at him. "That's true." Harry looked thoughtful for a moment. "Sometimes I think that maybe it would be better just not to go back, just start new here. But then the logical part of my brain kicks in, and tells me that I'm only eleven, and there would be no way I could survive alone in this world, not now anyway."  
  
"How bout we just concentrate on getting out of this forest."  
  
Harry snorted. "That's easier said then done. We don't even know where we will end up when, no, if we get out of here alive."  
  
"Can't be much worse then what we face if we went back."  
  
"I don't know Draco, maybe the fact that we haven't run into any trouble is that they are waiting for us on the other side."  
  
Draco shuddered at that, realizing that it was a statement that could very well be true.  
  
***  
  
Severus, Remus and Dumbledore Portkeyed to a large building, unmistakably a ministry building, and they set off straight away towards where the shouts and bright lights were, no doubt they were curses being thrown.  
  
Once outside the not so abandoned house, they were forced to wait until they got the signal of all clear. A few minutes' later red sparks could be seen and they all ran inside.  
  
Severus could see stunned and dead Death Eaters everywhere; even a few dead Aurors could be spotted.  
  
They ran into a room that was considerably larger then the rest and Severus stopped in his tracks.  
  
A few meters away lay the dead body of his father; next to him on the ground was his dead mother. Except she looked to have died from the killing curse, and not from the cancer she had all those years ago.  
  
Severus walked over to them both and kneeled down in front of his mother.  
  
An Auror walked over to him.  
  
"Did you know her?"  
  
Severus didn't say anything, he didn't move.  
  
"We asked her to move, to duck but she just remained standing, she didn't even look scared or nothing. We couldn't get to her in time; she was hit by the killing curse." The Auror said gravely.  
  
"She was alive?" Severus gasped, finally looking up and at the Auror.  
  
"She was when we got here-"  
  
"Impossible, this woman has been dead for over 20years."  
  
The Auror looked shocked but he didn't say another word, just nodded his head at Severus and walked away. Severus got the feeling he hadn't believed what he had just said.  
  
Severus stood up and walked over to the cauldron where Remus was standing.  
  
Severus looked at what was in it and tried to figure out what it was.  
  
Remus took the vial that was next to it and looked at the red substance.  
  
"Blood" Severus said, looking at it too.  
  
Remus looked at it closely and agreed with Severus. He brought it to his nose and smelled it.  
  
"Human blood, and fresh too." Remus gulped down a nauseous feeling that was making him feel uneasy and he put the vial back down, not wanting to think about how the blood got there. He could smell pain, fear and hate in the room, in the whole building, but it was mostly radiating from the room that he was in. He had no doubt that the blood that was smeared all over the vial was most likely taken without consent.  
  
Severus walked back over to his father and emotionlessly searched his pockets until he found what he was looking for, which was his wand that his father had taken off him earlier.  
  
"Mr. Dumbledore, sir." A young Auror walked up to Dumbledore and looked more then nervous.  
  
"Yes Mr. Berkley?" Dumbledore replied, briefly remembering the man that stood in front of his from being a Ravenclaw once.  
  
"We have searched everywhere Sir; there is no sign of either of the young boys."  
  
Dumbledore nodded at him. "Thank you Adam."  
  
The Auror smiled at him and then walked off.  
  
"I suppose we should take that as a good sign right?" Remus asked Dumbledore.  
  
"What? That Harry and Draco are gone?" Severus snapped at him.  
  
"Why would Voldemort take Harry with him if he was already dead?"  
  
Severus realized that what Remus had just said was true, Voldemort wasn't the type of person who would just take Harry with him unless he wasn't finished with him yet.  
  
"Come now, we shall go to the Ministry and see if any of the caught Death Eaters have any information to give." Dumbledore said, heading back out the door.  
  
With one last look to his dead mother and father, Severus followed.  
  
***  
  
Harry and Draco were walking when Harry heard a voice coming towards them.  
  
"Draco" Harry whispered, pulling his wand out and signaling for Draco to be quiet.  
  
Listening intently Harry could hear the voice growing louder as it came closer.  
  
Draco was turning around in circles, not knowing where the voice was coming from and therefore not knowing what way to face.  
  
Finally Harry saw where the voice was coming from, and so did Draco, as they both took steps backwards, both pale faced. Their wands were out and pointed, but both were shaking and neither knew any spells that would be able to defend themselves fairly with, they were only eleven after all.  
  
Suddenly the attacker attacked. 


	37. They Escaped?

Thank you to MJ, Calani, Ms. Padfoot, Fire'N'Ice, Them Girl, Lady Lightning, Zaeria, SterlingSilver, Corgi, ShortySC22, Teigra, Chaos Kid, Barbara, angeL_1215, ranger, Tropic, princess55, Mia, Lady Snake, BaYer04rulz, Shinigami06, Jay, BookCrazy77, palanmenel, Sakura Le, tati, abigfan, Aerie22, Kemenran, momma-dar and login for signed review for reviewing!  
  
I was ready to post this chapter yesterday but a reviewer commented on some mistakes I've made and I decided to sleep on it and check today to make sure that most, if not all the mistakes were caught from this chapter. I have read back on some previous chapters and I literally shutter at some blatantly obvious mistakes that I have let come through here, I am so sorry and I'm glad that you have been able to look past them and continue on reading. I'll try to make more of an effort to correct my work before posting, which also means that it may take a bit longer to post. Next week I'm back to school, so I'll hopefully be able to get another chapter out before that happens. But again, I'm really sorry...  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 37 - They Escaped?  
  
Harry and Draco ducked and jumped to the side as the snake, Nagini attacked, both just missing her poisonous bite by inches.  
  
They had both jumped to opposite sides and they were both crawling backwards, not taking their eyes off the snake, wondering who she would attack first.  
  
Harry pointed his wand at Voldemort's snake and quickly tried to think of a spell or curse that would be suitable to get rid of the snake.  
  
Nagini seemed to take more interest in Harry and instead choose to ignore Draco, sliding its way towards Harry.  
  
"I will kill you and my masssster will be mosssst pleasssed." The snake hissed and was now only a meter away from a very scared looking Harry.  
  
Draco, while still shaking, stood up behind Nagini. Trying not to attract attention to himself, he pulled his wand up and tried to do some quick thinking as to what he could do to kill the snake before him.  
  
"Pleasssse don't hurt me, pleassssse." Harry hissed, not really hearing himself, feeling panicked and hoping that Draco would think of a spell quickly, instead he saw Draco look at him in shock and drop his wand.  
  
Nagini too seemed to pause in shock.  
  
"You too sssspeak our tongue... interessssting." Nagini started to come closer to Harry again, stopping only inches away and bringing its head so it was level with Harry.  
  
Harry looked behind Nagini and at Draco and saw that he still hadn't moved from where he was and his wand still laid on the ground in front of him.  
  
"Draco!" Harry yelled.  
  
Draco seemed to snap back to reality and quickly bent down and picked up his wand. He pointed it at the snake and yelled a curse that Harry recognized as the Conjunctivitis Curse. It affected the eyes and vision.  
  
Nagini hissed and turned around to where Draco was, but unable to see him.  
  
Harry quickly got up and stepped as far away from the snake as he could, not noticing his chain had fallen off and now lay on the ground.  
  
Suddenly Nagini was lunging everywhere, hoping to get one of them. Harry pointed his wand at the snake and remembered reading about a curse in a book. He had never tried it before but he gave it a go anyway.  
  
"Impedimenta"  
  
Nagini stopped mid-lunge and it looked like she was frozen.  
  
***  
  
Severus and Remus were sitting outside in the hallway waiting for Dumbledore to come back out; he had entered a room moments before and was yet to be seen again.  
  
After another few agonizing moments Dumbledore stuck his head out the door and motioned Severus and Remus into the room.  
  
They quietly entered and found the room empty.  
  
"Well?" Severus asked expectantly.  
  
"Cornelius has allowed you both to be present with the questioning of the next wizard that was caught, but you are not to make a noise or a peep. One disturbance and you will be kicked out." Dumbledore said seriously.  
  
"Who is it Albus?"  
  
"Peter Pettigrew."  
  
Remus took a sharp intake of breath and looked cautiously at the door that led to the next room, the interrogation room.  
  
"You have my word Albus." Severus spoke up.  
  
"And mine." Remus said.  
  
"Good, follow me."  
  
***  
  
"Do you think we should have just left it there?" Harry asked, unconsciously looking behind him to check to make sure the snake hadn't somehow gotten free and followed them.  
  
"I doubt it is going anywhere anytime soon Harry."  
  
Harry still felt nervous about Nagini, even if she couldn't see or at that moment, move, it was only a matter of time before someone undid the curses they cast. What if she came back? What if it were while they were sleeping, so they wouldn't even see it happen, they wouldn't be able to defend themselves. Harry shuddered.  
  
"Why did you hiss at it? It sounded like you were talking to it." Draco nervously laughed.  
  
"What do you mean hiss? I wasn't hissing."  
  
"Yes you were."  
  
"Don't be stupid Draco, I can't talk to snakes."  
  
"Of course you can't, if you could then you would have been able to understand it too."  
  
Harry opened his mouth and then closed it again. But he had understood it. Did that mean he was a Parselmouth?  
  
***  
  
"Name?"  
  
"P-Peter Pe-Pettigrew."  
  
Severus listened only half interested as the usual questions were asked. He had already been through it all before. But he only wanted to know one thing, and that was what happened to Harry and where he was now.  
  
Dumbledore too seemed interested in only that and he leaned over to Fudge who was also in the room and whispered something in his ear.  
  
Fudge finally nodded and spoke quietly with the Auror who was asking the questions. Pettigrew seemed to get more nervous waiting for what they would ask.  
  
"Mr. Pettigrew, what can you tell me about the whereabouts of Mr. Harry Potter?" The Auror asked, his voice not giving away any emotion.  
  
"I-I don't- don't know what you're- you're talking about."  
  
"May I remind you Mr. Pettigrew that you are currently under oath and failure to tell the truth will result in the need for a truth potion to be taken."  
  
Pettigrew's eye's widened. "I-I don't know where P-Potter is, I swear."  
  
Severus was about to snap something at him in anger when a firm hand placed itself over his mouth. He slapped it away and glared at the person who it belonged to, which happened to be Remus, but he wasn't looking at Severus to see it. He was paying his pull attention to Pettigrew, he must have known Severus would have spoken because he didn't look like he had taken his eyes off Pettigrew since they had walked in.  
  
"When was the last time you saw Mr. Potter?"  
  
Pettigrew remained quiet and the Auror sighed.  
  
"Bill, go fetch some Veritaserum." The Auror looked at the person guarding the door.  
  
"No- I'll tell you." Pettigrew was obviously aware that the potion had some nasty side affects. "R-right before-" Pettigrew gulped. "Right before you came."  
  
"Where did he go?"  
  
"You-you-know-who sent him to his-his cell"  
  
"And then what happened to him?"  
  
"I don't know- he-he escaped."  
  
"Escaped?"  
  
"Yes- when we went back to re- retrieve him he was gone."  
  
"How did he escape?"  
  
"We think Dra- Draco Malfoy helped him..."  
  
"Is Draco Malfoy with Harry Potter now?"  
  
"They were both gone."  
  
"Where did they go?"  
  
"I already told you- I don't know."  
  
"So you-know-who no longer has Harry Potter or Draco Malfoy in his custody?"  
  
"N-no."  
  
"Do you have any idea where they both could be?"  
  
Pettigrew remained silent but something in his posture said he knew something.  
  
"Cooperation now could help you later on..." The Auror said, trying to get him to talk.  
  
Pettigrew looked up and at the Auror, and then his eyes traveled to Severus and finally landed on Remus where they remained for quite sometime, but as soon as he started to speak he looked at the ground.  
  
"We think that they- they went into the forest. You-know-who already has- has people out searching for them."  
  
"Was either of them hurt?"  
  
"Draco wasn't I believe-"  
  
"What about Harry?" Severus growled out, receiving a glare from both the Auror and Fudge.  
  
"He was- he was injured, but not badly."  
  
"What was done to him?" The Auror asked before Severus could say anything else.  
  
Pettigrew was visibly shaking. He had started to get more confident but it seemed that whatever had helped cause that was failing.  
  
"He was- he had the Cruciatus placed on him- but that was it." Pettigrew left out the fact that Harry had been kicked, hit over the head a number of times and had a dagger stabbed into his arm.  
  
Dumbledore whispered something else to Fudge and he nodded.  
  
"Severus, Remus." Dumbledore walked out and the last question they heard was "What happened Halloween night in 1981?"  
  
Remus looked like he wanted to stay to hear his answer but he followed them both out, knowing he would eventually find out what Pettigrew said later on.  
  
"Albus, we have to find them." Severus said urgently after Dumbledore had closed the door to the interrogation room.  
  
"Yes I know Severus. I will allow you both to help search, but Aurors and other wizards will be present. They will have survival packs there for you to take, with the necessaries to remain alive and warm out there. Also make sure you have your wands handy, there is no doubt that Death Eaters will be hanging around, looking for Harry and Draco as well. And do be careful."  
  
"Yes Headmaster." They both echoed, sounding very much like school boys.  
  
"Good. And I want you to take this." He handed a small box to Severus.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Inside this small box is an emergency Portkey. If you find yourselves in any trouble or if you find Harry and Draco, touch the portkey inside and it will transport you to Hogwarts immediately. If my calculations are correct, you should land just outside the front doors of the castle."  
  
"Thank you Albus."  
  
"Quite alright, now off with you." Dumbledore  
  
***  
  
"Hey Harry, what's that?" Draco shouted and pointed up ahead.  
  
Harry had to narrow his eyes to see what Draco was pointing at as it was getting harder to distinguish things, and the rain was coming down heavily. "I'm not sure, should we go check it out?" Harry yelled back, trying to be heard over the loud gusty wind.  
  
Draco nodded and they set off towards the object. Getting closer they realized that the 'object' was actually a house of some sort. A small house, but a house all the same. It looked like it had withstood a tornado.  
  
They cautiously walked up to it and Harry peaked through a window to find it empty of any signs of life.  
  
They walked around until they came to a door, which they unlocked using their wands.  
  
Stepping inside they shuddered. The change from not having the wind and rain whip at their faces was a welcome relief, but it was still cold inside the house. They each muttered drying spells on themselves and smiled at the warmth they felt at not having to wear wet clothes.  
  
Draco saw a fireplace and immediately ran over to it, he started to chuck some wood that was stacked beside it into the fireplace but Harry quickly stopped him from lighting it.  
  
"You can't Draco."  
  
"Why not?" Draco snapped, feeling cold, hungry and very grumpy.  
  
"It's a wood fire." Harry pointed out logically, looking around to see if there was anything useful around the place they could use.  
  
"So?"  
  
"So that means if you were to light it, smoke would come out of the chimney."  
  
"And that's bad because..."  
  
"Because it would direct people to us, namely Death Eaters."  
  
Draco sighed but put his wand away.  
  
"Hey look, food." Harry said as he opened the fridge.  
  
"Is it fresh?"  
  
Harry bent down and looked at it, finally smelling it. "It seems so, which means someone has been here recently."  
  
Both Harry and Draco looked towards the door as if they were expecting someone to walk through it that very moment.  
  
Finally Harry drew his eyes away and back to the fridge, feeling his stomach grumble. "We can't stay here."  
  
Draco's sigh told him he had realized that too.  
  
"Draco, search the place, see if there is anything worth taking, blankets and that type of thing. I'll take whatever food we can."  
  
Draco started searching and slowly he began to accumulate a few useful items.  
  
After quick movement and grabbing from the both of them they were ready to leave again.  
  
"Ready?" Draco asked, receiving a short nod as his answer.  
  
They walked back out into the storm and could see it was almost night time. The darkness was already settling among them.  
  
They quickly found a suitable place to sleep and shielded it so the rain wouldn't be able to get in.  
  
They sat in silence as Harry distributed some food. All he had gotten from the house was some biscuits and he had been able to get some water in a bottle. Any of the other food wouldn't have lasted long out in the weather and Harry didn't know a spell that would have kept it.  
  
Once they had eaten some food and gulped down some of the water they settled onto the ground, getting ready for another restless sleep. Harry looked at his watch that had stayed with him and felt a pang in his heart. This was the watch his father had given to him.  
  
"Harry, have you even been sleeping?" Draco asked, shifting to get in a more comfortable position.  
  
Harry hesitated. "A bit."  
  
"I know you don't want to see him again, and I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to see... well, you know. But maybe in the situation that we are in, it would be best to know what he is planning, perhaps he might say something about us?" Draco said, referring to Voldemort.  
  
Harry looked thoughtful. "I hadn't thought of it that way."  
  
"Of course you hadn't, that's why I'm here."  
  
"So that is why I let you tag along, I knew there must be some reason..."  
  
Draco stuck his tongue out at Harry and Harry smirked in return.  
  
They settled back into silence and it wasn't long before Draco was fast asleep. Harry took the blankets that Draco had taken from the house and he placed it over Draco and himself as he settled down next to him, lying on his side. He had gotten used to laying on his right side now, since lying on his back took up more room, which he often couldn't as they never had room to spare, and his left arm was still sore from when Pettigrew had stabbed him. The bleeding had stopped but it looked awful. Harry had wrapped it up and hoped it wouldn't get infected. That was definitely the last thing they needed right now.  
  
He muttered 'Nox' and the light from his wand went out and he took his watch off, holding it in front of him, he could just see its outline in the dark.  
  
He felt tears flow down his cheeks as he thought about his father. Asking himself why did he have to die?  
  
***  
  
Severus and Remus were discussing where they should start from. Looking out at everyone they could see that all the Aurors were missing a large part of the forest as they walked through it.  
  
Severus walked up to the closest Auror, who wasn't actually too far from him and asked him why there wasn't anyone searching in that area.  
  
"Because that doesn't lead to anything, at the edge of that end of the forest is just water, they would have to back track to get anywhere."  
  
"What has that got to do with anything?" Severus snapped, he had been increasingly more snappish since Harry had gone missing.  
  
"If you were trying to escape, you wouldn't run into a dead end."  
  
"You forget that we are talking about two eleven year olds. They wouldn't have a clue where they were going."  
  
"Look, if you want to go search there, then fine. Go." The Auror snapped back, pulling his robes around him tighter.  
  
Severus looked over to Remus and he seemed to be sniffing the air around the area.  
  
"Severus, I definitely spell something down here, whether it is them or not I can't be sure. But I can sense something-"  
  
The Auror snorted and looked at Remus with disgust.  
  
"I think we shall look this way." Severus growled out to the Auror and then stalked away without turning back, Remus rushing to catch up.  
  
"This could be a long trip; they are at least two days in front of us." Remus said as he walked next to Severus, having caught up.  
  
"That's if they haven't collapsed somewhere from hunger or the cold."  
  
"If Harry and Draco can survive Voldemort, then they can survive this forest." Remus said confidently.  
  
"Let's hope so..." Severus replied as he began walking into the forest. 


	38. Disguise

Thank you to Calani, BookCrazy77, ShortySC22, Corgi, Them Girl, Lady Snake, Kemenran, princess55, Fire'N'Ice, Kateri, Lady Lightning, takari4ever7, Ms. Padfoot, Shinigami06, MJ, Chaos Kid, palanmenel, Tenshi-Chikyuu, Barbara, BaYer04rulz, LinZE, angeL_1215, Jayda (I know, I awful at doing things like that! Sorry), Erika, Cataclysmic, Sakura Le, Padawan JanAQ, Perry, beyond infinity, Kyra, vbwizard and Tropic for reviewing!  
  
Princess55 - I am actually from Australia, and our schooling system is different from yours. Our big summer break is when we have summer, which is in your winter. So at Christmas time we usually get 7-8 weeks off. At the moment we are in-between terms, so we only get 2weeks off. I hope that made sense.  
  
I was ready to post this a few days ago, but then FF.net screwed up, and then when it decided to work again, it still decided to annoy me. Whenever I went to preview this chapter, all the words were all strange, and boxes and strange shapes were everywhere, so I had to hold off until that was fixed... Sorry!  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 38 - Disguise  
  
"Lupin..." Severus had braced himself with all possibilities of what he might find and see. Like both boys dead or badly injured, Death Eaters, wild animals, and things like that. But never had he expected to see Voldemort's snake frozen in midair.  
  
"Do you think it froze from the cold?" Remus asked, looking at it closely.  
  
"I don't-" Severus stopped and bent down next to it, seeing something shine from the ground.  
  
"What is it Severus?" Remus asked, forgetting about the snake momentarily.  
  
"I'm not sure." Severus used his fingers and dug around the silver object until it was loose enough to grab, and when he did he found that it was a chain.  
  
"That's Harry's, that's the chain I gave him for his eleventh birthday." Remus gasped.  
  
"How long do you think it's been here?"  
  
"Well it was imbedded in the ground, but it was still able to be seen, I'd say that it would have happened before it rained last night, and then when it did rain the soil loosened, enabling the chain to sink into it and then when it stopped raining this morning, the soil was then able to dry."  
  
"So that would mean that they were here about a day ago."  
  
"Yes, do you think that they had anything to do with this snake?"  
  
Severus pocketed the chain and looked closely at the snake. "What do you make of these?" Severus asked pointing to some marks seen on the snake.  
  
"I'm not sure, perhaps curse marks?"  
  
"Therefore it is possible the boys did this, which would mean that at least one has their wand." Severus felt better knowing that, so if they needed to they would be able to defend themselves.  
  
"Come on, we are getting close." Remus started walking at a fast pace again, something they had been doing a lot and they set off back through the many trees, keeping a look out for clues.  
  
***  
  
"Harry, are you sure you don't know any heat charms or spells? I'm absolutely freezing here."  
  
"For the umpteen time Draco, no. If I did I wouldn't have waited this long to do it." Harry hissed back.  
  
"Do you hear something?"  
  
"Quick. Over there." Harry whispered and he grabbed Draco by the shirt and dragged him over behind a large tree, so they were both hidden.  
  
"What should we do?"  
  
"Shhh... Be quiet."  
  
They watched as two men stepped out, one was wearing black robes and the other one grey robes, and neither looked like Death Eaters, but that wasn't going to mean that Harry and Draco were going to let their guard down. They were too far away to distinguish what they really looked like, but they could still faintly hear what they were saying, as the wind carried their voices. It was obvious they were talking in hushed whispers.  
  
"Well? Where are they?" The one in the black said. His voice sounded strangely familiar...  
  
"Its harder to sense them now, they have been out here for so long, they are starting to blend in with their surrounding smells, but I know we are close." The man wearing the grey robes replied.  
  
"What should we do?" Draco asked quietly, leaning heavily on the large trunk of the tree for support. He wasn't starting to feel so good.  
  
"If we run they'll catch us..." Harry murmured, looking in-between a few leaves to see them, they were getting closer.  
  
"Attack them then?"  
  
"You know how to use the 'Expelliarmus' spell don't you?"  
  
"I've never done it before..."  
  
"Neither have I, but it looks like we are going to have to use it."  
  
"Okay." Draco stood up and tried to look as confident as he could, but Harry could easily see his fear and fatigue.  
  
"Come on, I'll take the black one, you take the grey." Harry didn't wait for a reply, he just started moving behind the bushes that were giving him a shield and tried to get as close as possible to the man without being noticed. He saw Draco doing the same thing.  
  
"Wait, I can hear movement." The grey one said, stopping and trying to listen even harder.  
  
"Three... Two... One... Now." Harry whispered to Draco and he jumped up from where he was and pointed his wand at the man dressed in black. Draco beside him was doing the same thing.  
  
Together they shouted "EXPELLIARMUS!"  
  
Both of the men's wands flew out of their hands, but neither of them flew to Draco or Harry, but rather just landed a few feet away from the men on the ground.  
  
Harry and Draco walked out from behind the bush with their wands pointed and they stood directly in front of the men, but kept a good distance between them.  
  
That was when Draco and Harry got a good look at them, and who they saw made them both gasp.  
  
"Who- who are you?" Harry stuttered.  
  
"Harry? Harry it's me-" The man in black, Severus said in confusion, taking a step towards Harry in what looked like concern.  
  
"Don't move." Harry glared at the 'intruder', trying to sound more confident then he felt. "Who are you?" This time Harry asked more forcefully.  
  
Severus stopped and looked at Harry strangely. "I-I don't understand. Did you hit your head?"  
  
Harry glared even more hatefully at the 'intruder', wondering what type of sick joke this was. "You really expect me to believe that you are Severus Snape, my dad?"  
  
"But I-"  
  
"Next time, you might want to pick a better disguise, perhaps someone that isn't dead." Draco said just as hatefully as Harry felt.  
  
"Dead? I'm not dead, whatever gave you that-"  
  
"I'll ask you once more and this time don't lie to me. Who are you?"  
  
"Fine then." Severus growled out. "Ask me a question that only the real Severus Snape would know."  
  
Harry looked over at Draco and then back at the 'intruder' almost instantly, not wanting to give him any chance to escape or attack.  
  
Draco walked up to Harry, his wand still pointed at the Remus 'intruder' and stopped as he was right next to him.  
  
***  
  
"Don't do a thing; we need for them to trust us. They won't if we attack them."  
  
Remus was sure that if he hadn't have been a werewolf and had his heightened senses, then those words would have gone unnoticed.  
  
***  
  
"Maybe it's a potion?" Draco whispered, making sure only Harry could hear him.  
  
"I can only think of one that would do that, and they would need my dad to be alive for that to work." Harry whispered back, thinking of the Polyjuice Potion and how the person was needed to be alive for their hair to be taken.  
  
"Well then how are they doing it?"  
  
"It must be some spell or charm. I'm not sure though."  
  
"Well why don't you just ask the person a question and see if they can answer it?"  
  
"Because I know my dad is dead, there is no point." Harry dismissed.  
  
"But once they answer the question wrong, then they will know that their disguises will no longer work, maybe they would tell you who they are then?"  
  
Harry sighed and did a sideway glance at Draco. "Okay."  
  
Harry then paid his full attention back to the man in front of him and thought of a question that would be suitable.  
  
This turned out to be a harder task then he had originally thought. What question was there that he knew that there would be no possibility that anyone would know or could have easily found out?  
  
Harry then turned slightly back to Draco.  
  
"What's wrong Harry? Just ask the bloody question will you."  
  
"What should I ask him?"  
  
"Why are you asking me?"  
  
Harry did a quick sideway glance at Draco to show how desperate he was.  
  
Draco sighed and tried to think of a question.  
  
"Why don't you ask him who your best friend is?"  
  
"Draco!" Harry said more loudly then he intended. He quickly calmed down and spoke in a whisper again. "You know the answer to that question; the whole bloody school knows the answer to that question."  
  
"How about, what he's favorite colour is?"  
  
Harry's shoulders slumped and his anger started to flare up, not aimed directly at Draco but at his frustration at himself and the situation they were in.  
  
"All he wears is black; I don't think it would be that hard to guess-"  
  
The intruder cleared his throat and Harry and Draco immediately stopped bickering and looked at both of the 'intruders', each narrowing their eyes in suspicion.  
  
"It was the last day of school and I was called into a meeting, in that meeting Albus Dumbledore pulled me aside and told me that there was a possibility of a problem at the residence where Harry Potter was staying. I reluctantly went and checked it out. And I found Harry Potter beaten in a cupboard under the stairs. I took him out, went back outside of number 4 Privet Drive and down the Alleyway where I Apparated to Hogsmeade. From there I ran up to the Hospital Wing where..."  
  
Harry and Draco listened as the 'intruder' went about telling Harry's life story as if it only just happened. A lot of it could have been found out in a file that the ministry would have on him, and some was just general knowledge anyway. But how could anyone have known about the boggart? Or about their trip to Diagon Alley where Harry had been in the Pet shop while his father was out searching for him? He was even telling him things that Harry didn't even remember happening, but sounded more then likely true.  
  
"Harry." Draco whispered, as the intruder kept talking.  
  
"What Draco?"  
  
"Do we believe him?"  
  
"I'm not sure." Part of Harry was telling him to run out and over to this person who was surely his father and hug him, but another part didn't want to put his heart back out there when there was a possibility of getting hurt again.  
  
"Well can you hurry up and decide. I'm not going to last much longer..."  
  
Harry turned to look at Draco, putting his wand finally down and he instead concentrated on Draco. The week's 'trip' had certainly taken its toll of him. He was extremely pale, he had dark rings around his eyes, his face looked clammy and his eyes looked glazed.  
  
"Draco?" Harry asked worriedly.  
  
Draco dangerously swayed and then he closed his eyes and fell. Harry quickly brought out his arms to catch him but Harry was already weak and he definitely couldn't handle the added weight of Draco, so they both went down.  
  
Their names could be heard from his father and Remus as they ran over to them, only stopping quickly to pick their wands up off the ground. Harry quickly rolled Draco over and sat up.  
  
His father immediately fell to his knees beside Harry and brought his hands to Harry's face, almost believing that he would just fade before him or maybe that he would just wake up all of a sudden.  
  
"Harry." His father pulled him into a bone crushing hug and fought back tears, patting Harry's now very dirty hair down and rubbing soothing circles around his back.  
  
Harry however was unable to hold his tears back. He broke down in his fathers arms and let out all of his heartache and pain that he had experienced over the past few days.  
  
Meanwhile Remus was caring to Draco, making sure that nothing serious was wrong. It looked like he had just fainted from exhaustion.  
  
Harry moved his head to the side and looked at Draco.  
  
"Is he okay?" He asked Remus, worry seeping into his now very exhausted voice.  
  
"He'll be fine Harry." Remus said truthfully as he scooped Draco into his arms and stood up. "Severus, we should get them both back to Hogwarts."  
  
Severus nodded and stood up with Harry still in his arms. While balancing Harry with one arm, who now weighed back to basically nothing, he grabbed the small box that had the Portkey in it. With difficulty he opened the lid and both he and Remus each put a finger on it and they all felt a pull at the navel as they were taken out of the forest and appeared again outside of Hogwarts. Harry had never felt so happy to see it.  
  
Severus and Remus both rushed past the Aurors guarding the school who were staring at them in shock and they ran through the halls and towards the hospital wing, not running into a single person, but that was more then likely due to the fact that it was dinner time and the students and teachers would be having their dinner in the Great Hall.  
  
Severus could feel that Harry was like an ice brick in his arms and Severus tightened his grip on him. Harry had fallen asleep in his arms, well either fallen asleep or passed out.  
  
Once they were in front of the Hospital Wing they banged open the door and Severus shouted out to Pomfrey.  
  
She came rushing through moments later and both Severus and Remus found themselves outside without quite remembering how she had done that.  
  
Remus left to go find Dumbledore and Severus started pacing outside the door waiting to be let in to see Harry again.  
  
***  
  
Harry blearily opened his eyes to find everything was foggy. He reached to his side and winced in pain that his left arm caused from the movement. He changed arms and used his right arm and felt around for his glasses.  
  
He finally found them and he quickly placed them on. He looked at his surroundings and found that he was in the hospital wing and it was obviously night time, as it was dark and the moonlight shone from the window. It was a full moon tonight.  
  
Harry focused back to what was around him and he saw his father was fast asleep in the chair next to his bed, and he looked quite uncomfortable.  
  
Harry smiled and he sat up, ignoring the tightness in his chest and using his right arm, he reached out and lightly touched his fathers face, smiling as he moved under his touch.  
  
He pulled his hand back and looked around more closely. Next to him on another bed was Draco, and even though he was still asleep, he was looking a lot better, there was more colour in his face and there was no longer dark circles under his eyes.  
  
Looking at himself he saw that he was wearing a hospital gown. He looked closely at his hands and they no longer were covered in dirt. He suspected that Madam Pomfrey must have used a cleaning charm to clean him.  
  
He lifted up his shirt sleeve to his left arm, wondering where the pain had come from earlier and saw that he had a bandage covering his upper arm, right where Pettigrew had stabbed him.  
  
Harry pulled his sleeve back down and he pulled his bed covers back and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Slowly he placed one on the ground and winced at the coldness. After a few moments the next one was one the ground and he slowly put all his weight on them, testing them out at first. He felt weak, but thought he would be able to walk alright.  
  
He quietly and slowly walked around his bed, past his father and over to Draco's bed. He looked more closely at Draco and could tell that he was doing a lot better. His breathing was even and after feeling his forehead, he could tell that Draco was fine.  
  
Harry sighed in relief. He had grown close to Draco after what had happened with Voldemort and he wouldn't be able to bare the thought of something happening to him. He hadn't realized how close he felt to him until he saw him collapse.  
  
Harry took one last look at Draco before turning back around, intent on going back to his own bed but the sight of other closed curtains further up peaked his curiosity.  
  
Who could it be?  
  
Harry walked over to the bed, his legs feeling heavier as he did, but Harry had too much determination to just give up then.  
  
Finally, after what felt like a lot longer then what it probably was, he reached the edge of the curtains. He pulled them back an inch and poked his head through the gap.  
  
He saw the deadly pale figure of Professor McGonagall. Harry felt himself pale just looking at her. He pulled the curtains back further and made his way over to her bed, just stopping short of it.  
  
He felt guilty that he hadn't spared one thought for his transfiguration teacher, and he had seen her tortured. She didn't look any better then when he had seen her, the only difference was that she wasn't withering and screaming on the ground. Shouldn't she have gotten better by now?  
  
Harry reached out and touched her hand and was shocked at how cold it was. Was she dead?  
  
Harry shuddered and took a step back. Pale, cold and not moving weren't a good sign.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
Harry turned his head back towards the direction of where his bed was as he heard his father say his name. He had gotten up and was walking towards him.  
  
"Harry you shouldn't be out of bed." His father said once he was standing in front of him. He was looking at him with concern and he placed a hand to his forehead, feeling his temperature. "Harry, you're freezing. Come here." Severus bent over and took Harry into his arms.  
  
"Is she dead?" Harry asked quietly and hesitantly.  
  
"McGonagall? She's going to be fine Harry. Pomfrey says it is just going to take time." Severus said soothingly, seeing how Harry looked upset.  
  
Harry nodded and laid his head against his father's chest as he started walking back towards his bed.  
  
"You should get some more sleep Harry."  
  
Harry only then noticed how tired he was. With a quick yawn he was closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep. He felt himself being put back to bed and his glasses being taken off.  
  
"Sleep well Harry." Severus whispered and he kissed Harry's forehead lightly.  
  
***  
  
Harry felt himself awakening later on, how much later he didn't know, but this time he wasn't the only one awake as he felt someone placing his glasses on.  
  
"How are you feeling Harry?"  
  
Harry looked around and saw that everything was the same, and it seemed to be night time again.  
  
"How long have I been here?" Harry was shocked by how raspy his voice was.  
  
"It's been five days since Lupin and I found Draco and yourself in the forest."  
  
"5 days." Harry gasped and he quickly sat up.  
  
"It's okay Harry-"  
  
"Draco?"  
  
"Draco is fine, he's just over there sleeping-" Severus pointed to the bed next to him. "He woke up a few hours ago. He is going to be fine, just like you."  
  
Harry nodded and looked over to Draco's bed; feeling reassured that he would be alright.  
  
"Harry, can you tell me what happened?"  
  
Harry looked away from Draco and instead looked at his fathers face. "He said that you were dead, how is it that you are alive?"  
  
"Who said I was dead Harry?"  
  
Harry bit his bottom lip and looked away. How much did his father know? Did he know about his own father? About his mother?  
  
"It's alright Harry, you can tell me."  
  
Harry sighed. "Your father."  
  
"He lied. I'm fine." Severus tried reassuring Harry.  
  
"How did you find Draco and me?"  
  
"Fireworks brought the attention of some Aurors nearby-" Harry smiled. "- and they found out that Death Eaters were there. After a fierce fight, the Aurors who had plenty of backup were able to capture a lot of the Death Eaters there, and one particular Death Eater by the name of Peter Pettigrew informed us that you escaped to the forest and Lupin and I set off in search for you. A few days later we found you."  
  
"Is Sirius Black free now?"  
  
"So you know of his innocence?"  
  
"I know that he is innocent, but that is all Pettigrew would tell me."  
  
"Well he isn't free yet, the ministry is talking to him now, it is not known yet how affected he is."  
  
"Affected?"  
  
"Harry, he has spent almost 10 years in Azkaban, not many people last a few months in there without being affected in some way."  
  
Harry nodded; it was very likely that Sirius Black won't be all there.  
  
"Were you given any potions while with Voldemort?" Severus asked anxiously. It may not really matter now that Harry was safe, but Severus needed to know.  
  
Harry shook his head.  
  
"Can you tell me what happened, all of it?"  
  
Harry wanted to do anything but that, but he knew he would need to get it over with, so he might as well do it sooner rather then later.  
  
Severus listened as Harry told him what had happened since he was taken from Hogwarts. With every word Severus grew angrier, but he made sure he looked calm for Harry's sake. It was obviously hard for him to say it all and he wanted to listen until the end before Harry lost his nerve.  
  
Once Harry was finished they sat in silence for a while. Finally Harry couldn't hold in what he wanted to say any longer. "I'm sorry about your dad."  
  
"Don't be, it wasn't your fault." Severus snapped at Harry, before visually taking a deep breath and trying to calm himself.  
  
"What's going to happen now?" Harry asked.  
  
"You are going to be some more rest, and then once Pomfrey lets you out of here you shall be joining your housemates again and getting back to class."  
  
"After that?"  
  
"You might have to talk to Trelawney if you want to know." Severus smiled at Harry.  
  
"Will everything go back to normal now?"  
  
"You forget Harry; there is a war out there now. Things won't go back to normal for a long time. The Ministry is aware of Voldemort's presence and they won't wait to act, any threat to the Ministry in their opinion must be neutralized, and sacrifices will be considered justified if the end means suit them."  
  
Harry sighed; this conversation was definitely not one to make you feel better. "How is Professor McGonagall?"  
  
"She too woke up earlier on. Pomfrey has taken that as a good sign. But she will be moved from here to St. Mungo's soon. She needs better care then Pomfrey can give her right now."  
  
"She's leaving?"  
  
"I'm afraid so Harry."  
  
"Then who will be taking over?"  
  
"I don't know, but don't worry yourself with it, I'm sure Albus has already found someone suitable."  
  
Harry nodded and found himself yawning as he did.  
  
"You should go back to sleep Harry, you are still recovering from your little adventure."  
  
"You can't blame this one on me this time." Harry warned, as almost every other time he had been in the situation that he was in now, it was due to his own daringness and ability of getting himself into situations that were dangerous.  
  
"No, I suppose not." Severus smiled at Harry, and then he grew serious. "I'm glad you're back Harry."  
  
"So am I Dad." Harry lent over and hugged his father, almost not believing that a few days ago he was sure that he was dead. Strange how a few days can change everything. 


	39. Friends

Thank you to Neo, Kemenran, princess55, BookCrazy77, MJ, Lady Lightning, Shinigami06, Barbara, Ms. Padfoot, loopyluna, Tropic, angeL_1215, palanmenel, Mia (Thanks for the pie!), Harry's Muggle Sister, Jay, athenakitty, Chaos Kid, Hyperbole, Kellyn, LinZE, hermioneforever, Erika, RuinedEmperor, NightShade, abigfan, Starlina, MarsMoonStar, takari4ever7, Kyra, Satoshi a.k.a. Heero_YuyZ, Aerie22, nathan-chan, saydee, Fire'N'Ice, Victoria and Wandering Shadow for reviewing!  
  
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A Different Life  
  
Chapter 39 - Friends  
  
"It's about time you were let out of here." Ron said over his shoulder as he was walking Harry out. It had been two days since Harry had woken up and talked with his father, and since then he had been inundated with people coming to visit him.  
  
"I'm sure Madam Pomfrey had a good reason to keep Harry here so long." Hermione spoke up.  
  
Harry had been more then shocked when both Hermione and Ron had come to visit him and Draco, and they were both being civil to each other, which Harry dared not question why for fear that they might stop.  
  
Draco wasn't allowed out until later that day, which he had been quite vocal about, which then ended with him being given a sleeping drought to shut him up. Harry smiled as he saw Draco fast asleep in his bed, he would definitely be annoyed when he found out.  
  
"Yeah right, Harry has been fine for the past two days; there was no reason to keep-"  
  
Ron was cut off as harsh coughing interrupted him from behind the curtains of where McGonagall was.  
  
Harry motioned them over.  
  
"Are you alright Professor?" He asked tentatively as be poked his head through the gap in the curtains.  
  
"I'm fine Mr. Potter. I see you get to leave here." She said kindly, taking a long sip of water that was beside her bed.  
  
Harry nodded and looked down at his feet, looking like a school boy who was in trouble.  
  
"Professor McGonagall." Hermione said from behind Harry, walking past him and over to the transfiguration teachers bed.  
  
"How are you Miss. Granger?"  
  
"I'm fine thank you Professor. I just finished reading 'A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration' again, I found it far more fascinating the second time as I understood a lot more of it. I am anxious to learn how to-"  
  
"Hermione, I doubt that Professor McGonagall really cares-"  
  
"Ron! Just because you don't care doesn't mean-"  
  
"It's just a book Hermione, only you and Harry seem to care about-"  
  
"Just a book! It's more then just a-"  
  
"Guys!" Harry said loudly. "Can I have a moment alone with Professor McGonagall please?"  
  
"Of course Harry." Hermione said pleasantly, forcing a calm smile onto her face, which turned into a glare when she looked at Ron. "I hope you feel better soon Professor. Come along Ron. We'll wait for you outside Harry." Hermione grabbed Ron's sleeve and dragged him out of the hospital wing. Harry could hear their argument starting up again.  
  
"I have to wonder if I was wrong trying to get them to be friends..."  
  
"What is it you want Mr. Potter?" McGonagall asked nicely, but Harry could tell she was getting tired again.  
  
"I just wanted to apologize, it's my fault you were hurt-"  
  
"How is it that you concluded that it was your fault?"  
  
"They were here for me, not to hurt you."  
  
"Harry, none of this was your fault, you didn't ask for this to happen and I certainly don't blame you for what happened. So please don't blame yourself."  
  
"Will you come back to teaching once you are better?"  
  
"I don't know Harry, I think its time I had a break."  
  
"A break? But Professor, we need you here."  
  
She smiled at him, but there was a touch of sadness to it. "I'm sure you all will do fine without me Mr. Potter, but you never know your luck. I remember the first time I saw you, you were six and you had gotten lost. I remember thinking that you were such a wonderful boy, and I'm sorry to say that I may miss seeing you turn into the fine man that you are sure to become."  
  
"Thank you Professor." Harry smiled at her and walked forwards, taking her hand and giving it a small squeeze before quickly hurrying away and walking back out of the hospital wing to find both Ron and Hermione glaring at each other.  
  
***  
  
It was easy for Harry to catch up to everyone with his classes, since he had been in the hospital wing when their lessons had started again. It only took him a week and he was up to the same place as everyone else.  
  
Today was Tuesday and that was the day Harry was able to sleep in. Everyone else in first year Gryffindor had Potions and since he never normally needed his free lessons to do homework, he usually just stayed in bed and slept until lunch. But Harry felt restless, and after about halfway through what everyone's Potion lesson would be, he sat up and pulled his hangings from his bed back.  
  
Sitting there he tried to think of something to do. He looked over at Ron's bed and smiled. He had spent half of the previous night helping Ron do his holiday homework for Potions. He couldn't believe how much his father had set for everyone. Even through he didn't find it hard, the quantity of it was enormous.  
  
He moved onto looking at the next bed, Neville Longbottom's bed, and saw that the bed hangings were drawn shut. Normally if you wanted your bed made you would leave the hangings open, if they were shut then the house elves would leave it.  
  
Harry remembered thinking about how he saw Neville as a lot like Pettigrew. He had kept an eye on him during his classes since he had returned and during meal times and the boy normally kept to himself, not disturbing too many people. Harry felt a bit bad at how he hadn't made an effort to get to know him.  
  
Harry stood and grabbed some robes, planning on going to the boy's bathroom and getting ready for his lessons that would be coming up soon. He walked past the beds and just as he passed Neville's he heard a sob from in it.  
  
He froze in shock and looked at the bed. He listened intently and he couldn't hear anything else. Did he just imagine it? "Hello?"  
  
The hangings were suddenly pulled back and Harry was face-to-face with a tearful Neville Longbottom. His eyes were puffy and tears were still leaking out of his eyes.  
  
"Neville?" Harry gasped. "Are you alright?" Harry dropped his robes that he was holding onto the floor and walked up to Neville, sitting on his bed next to him.  
  
"H-Harry?" Neville cried out, covering his face with his hands and bringing his legs up to his chest, his body vibrating as he cried.  
  
"Neville, what's wrong? Shouldn't you be in potions-" Harry stopped as he saw Neville look at him in fear. "Neville? Do you want me to go get someone? Professor McGon- I mean, Professor Dumbledore?" Harry quickly corrected himself. Professor Dumbledore had so far taken over McGonagall's classes, and most of the teachers were filling out for the head of house duties. But his father had said that he was still looking for someone to fill the duty permanently.  
  
Neville shook his head.  
  
"Can you tell me what's wrong then? Maybe I can help?"  
  
Neville mumbled something and looked away.  
  
"Sorry Neville, I didn't quite hear you there."  
  
Neville sighed and looked up at Harry. "You'll laugh."  
  
Harry smiled in what he hoped was an encouraging way. "I promise Neville, whatever you say here, I won't laugh."  
  
Neville looked up at Harry. "Promise?"  
  
"I promise Neville."  
  
"Okay, it's just-" Neville hesitated for a moment. "It's Professor Snape."  
  
"What about him?" Harry's curiosity just peaked a bit higher.  
  
"He scares me."  
  
"He scares most people Neville." Harry dismissed.  
  
"But he hates me especially." Neville said despairingly.  
  
"Oh Neville, I'm sure he doesn't mean-"  
  
"You don't understand Harry; he's always picking on me. I haven't been able to brew a correct potion all year. I've lost more cauldrons then I can count and I feel like he is always staring at me. I can't concentrate during lessons and I've ended up in the hospital wing six times already due to accidents that I have caused. Not to mention all the points I've lost."  
  
Neville's talk all came out in a rush and it took Harry a moment to process all he had just said. He realized that Neville must have been holding on to all of that since the start of all this, which seemed to be the start of September. He really didn't have anyone else to talk to.  
  
"Do you want me to talk to him? Ask if he will let up on you a bit?" Harry asked, feeling a bit angry that his father had terrorized someone to this extent. He wasn't blind, he knew how his father was, and Harry couldn't see him as teaching any other way, but if what Neville was saying was true, then he was taking it to the next level here.  
  
"No, please don't say anything to him." Neville looked pleadingly into his eyes.  
  
"Neville, I'm sure he doesn't realize what he is doing to you is upsetting you so much. If you let me talk to him I'm sure he would stop-"  
  
"It would be worse. Please Harry, don't."  
  
"You don't know him like I do Neville." Maybe that was the problem. Ron had known his father for many years and he sometimes even got scared around him. But Neville seemed petrified of him. "Okay, I won't talk to my dad. But will you let me help you?"  
  
"Help me how?" Neville asked nervously, wiping the remaining tears away from his eyes.  
  
"Well, you said you hadn't brewed a correct potion at all." At Neville's nod he continued. "Well maybe I can help with that. I know all the first year potions; I can help you prepare for them. Perhaps if dad will let us, I can help you make a few of them after class sometime."  
  
Neville smiled brightly at Harry. "You would do that for me?"  
  
"Of course I would Neville, friends help each other out." Harry couldn't believe the happiness that crossed Neville's face when he said that.  
  
"Friends?" Neville smiled at Harry.  
  
"Sure. Now what else is there?" Harry thought back to what else Neville had said. "Now getting over the fear of my dad isn't going to be easy. I would say that if you were to spend time with him you would slowly become more comfortable with him, but I doubt you would be up for that." Harry watched as Neville's smile turned into a look of horror at the idea. "Exactly. Well let's see, when you see him what do you feel?" Harry asked.  
  
"Scared."  
  
"Scared, okay, so the opposite of feeling scared would be for you to feel fearless, secure. Something like that."  
  
Neville slowly nodded. "How am I supposed to feel that around Professor Snape?"  
  
"I'm not sure, perhaps if I told you a story, something that would make you laugh when you saw him rather then feel scared?"  
  
"What story would that be?"  
  
Harry thought for a moment. He hadn't a clue. "Well how about you let me think on it for a while okay?"  
  
"Sure Harry, thank you so much."  
  
"Think nothing of it Neville. Now I better go get ready, it's almost lunch time." Harry stood up and retrieved his robes from the ground and headed towards the bathroom.  
  
***  
  
Harry arrived at lunch early and he immediately saw Owl waiting for him with the Daily Prophet. Harry smiled at her and gave her some bacon that appeared on his plate as soon as he sat down.  
  
"Here you go girl." Harry fed her and stroked her head. She cooed at him in response.  
  
Finally it started to get more and more crowded as classes finished and Owl left. Harry watched until she was gone and then picked up the Daily Prophet. He looked from front to back and didn't see one thing on Sirius Black. It was covered with articles about the return of Voldemort, but nothing on a possible trial for Sirius Black, or anything about his innocence. He couldn't understand why. He made a mental note to ask Remus at their special defense classes that night. There were extra defense classes that were being offered for each year level since Voldemort was back, and although Harry would have signed up for it anyway, he wasn't given the choice. His father had told him that he would be going and nothing Harry could say would change that.  
  
He had been to one already, and found it a bit disappointing. Since they were only first years, they were learning the theory behind most of the curses and such. But it was still interesting and important enough to make Harry want to go back for more. And he had to admit, that what they were learning could prove to come in handy one day.  
  
***  
  
Harry was able to drag himself though another day and found himself anticipating his lesson with Remus. He only had to get through this dinner and then he would be joining his other classmates that had also signed up for the lesson.  
  
"Hey Harry, what's up with your dad?" Ron asked just before he took a large bite out of his chicken.  
  
"Harry looked up and saw his father glaring at everyone. But there seemed to be something different about him. And he certainly looked angrier then Harry had seen him in a long time.  
  
"I don't know, maybe something happened in one of his classes?"  
  
"He didn't seem any different in class this morning and I didn't think he had a class after lunch." Ron mumbled through his food.  
  
"Perhaps he had the funeral today?" Hermione spoke up from beside Harry.  
  
"What funeral?" Harry asked, already lost by what Hermione was saying.  
  
"For his father."  
  
"His father? Why would he go to his father's funeral after what he did to Harry?" Ron asked, forgetting the food he had brought halfway up to his mouth.  
  
"Because he was still his father and he did spare Professor Snape." Hermione replied. She had been told all the details of what happened by both boys.  
  
"How nice of him." Ron said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, if he did go to his father's funeral, he wouldn't have had the service almost two and a half weeks after he died."  
  
Hermione shrugged. "Well Harry would know."  
  
Both Hermione and Ron turned to face Harry and he could only shrug at them. He truly had no idea if his dad had gone to his father's funeral. The thought hadn't even entered his head.  
  
Hermione huffed and turned back to the book she had in front of her and Ron shrugged and went back to his food.  
  
Harry decided that after he spoke with Remus that night, a visit to his father would be in order.  
  
***  
  
Harry sat in his single desk; on either side of him were Draco and Ron. He was busy writing notes down on the parchment in front of him, oblivious to the looks Ron and Draco were sending each other.  
  
Harry was halfway through writing about the effects of the 'Flobra' curse when Draco tapped his shoulder.  
  
"What?" Harry whispered, not looking up from what he was writing.  
  
"Harry, can you see that over there?" Draco whispered back.  
  
Harry looked up and moved over to the edge of his seat, and then leaned closely to Draco's desk and looked down the aisle of desks and seats, looking for what Draco was talking about. "What did you see?"  
  
"Nothing, don't worry about it. I think it was just the light." Draco whispered calmly to Harry, but something seemed off to Harry. He was acting... strange.  
  
Harry sat back properly in his seat and went back to finish writing on the parchment when he saw that it was no longer there. He looked around him and then at the ground but saw nothing. Snickering caught his attention and he saw both Draco and Ron laughing quietly at him.  
  
Figuring Draco was the distraction and Ron was the culprit, Harry glared at Ron and quietly demanded he give his notes back.  
  
Ron shook his head at Harry and poked his tongue out at him.  
  
"Ron!" Harry said loudly, attracting the attention of the whole class.  
  
"Mr. Potter, is there something the matter?" Remus asked, he looked as though he had just stopped mid sentence.  
  
"No sir, Draco and Ron were just telling me that they thought you should show us the curse, to see the effects of it in person rather then from a book." Harry lied smoothly, one thing he had learned from his father was to always be prepared for anything.  
  
"Really, well perhaps they won't mind coming up here and letting me demonstrate for the rest of the class then." Remus smiled kindly at Ron and Draco who looked at him in horror.  
  
Harry grinned evilly at Ron and Draco.  
  
***  
  
Harry almost fell off his seat from laughing so hard when Draco and Ron were turned into babies. Of course, Remus only transfigured them, being excellent in Transfiguration. To use the 'Flobra' curse would cause immense pain and was irreversible without the correct potion to undo the effect, it was almost considered an unforgivable.  
  
Ron was crying and Draco had his whole hand stuck in his mouth sucking it. Finally after a few minutes of embarrassment Remus transfigured them back. Draco was horrified to find his hand stuck in his mouth and Ron quickly wiped all the tears that were all over his face.  
  
Soon the class was let out and Ron and Draco gave Harry dirty looks as they hurried away. Harry laughed to himself and was almost out the door when he was called back, and as he was walking towards Remus he remembered that he had wanted to talk to him anyway.  
  
Harry stood by the desk and waited for Remus to start talking. Once every student was out of the classroom Remus walked over to the door and shut it, then he walked back over to the front of his desk and leaned on it, he was only a few inches away from Harry now.  
  
"Harry, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind meeting a friend of mine?" Remus asked, his eyes wondering from Harry to something at the back of the room quickly before returning to Harry's again.  
  
Harry narrowed his eyes slightly at Remus, but he kept quiet and nodded.  
  
Remus smiled at him and put his hands on Harry's shoulders, turning him around so his back was now to Remus. There was a man that Harry could now see standing in the shadows.  
  
Harry felt Remus whisper in his ear. "Are you sure you are ready for this?"  
  
Harry nodded and looked closely at the man. He seemed a bit familiar.  
  
"Harry" Remus spoke louder now. "I would like to introduce you to, Sirius Black." 


	40. Meet the Godfather

Thank you to chips challenge, Neo, BookCrazy77, Tropic, Kemenran, ranger2, Corgi1, stayblue, Lady Lightning, princess55, SlythGrl18, Mia, Ms. Padfoot, Cynthia90, gracie, I)ark/-)ngel, Hyperbole, Kyra2, MarsMoonStar, BaYer04rulz, Emerald Eyes a.k.a Firebreath (thanks for the pie!), kangaroo, Star06, Barbara, Hedwig, Rose Creighton, kruger, Lois Lane, Erika7, Calani, ShortySC22, Reading-Whiz, Blue Dream1, Akiko Suzuki, Shinigami061, angeL_1215, takari4ever7,Celebony, Fire'N'Ice, ..., Mella deRanged, Ashley, EliBeth, Old Fawkes and Starlina for reviewing!  
  
Sorry this has taken so long, I've had an overload of work lately. It seems a few people have had that also, as I see some still haven't updated their stories. *coughMs.Padfootcough* But anyway, here it is!  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 40 - Meet the Godfather  
  
Sirius stepped out of the shadows and stopped in front of Harry, still maintaining his distance. After a few minutes of complete silence he coughed, obviously feeling a bit nervous under Harry's strong shocked gaze. "Hi Harry." His voice had a roughness to it; he obviously unsurprisingly hadn't spoken very much while in Azkaban.  
  
Harry for his part just continued to gape until Remus nudged him in the back. Harry quickly brought his thoughts together and swallowed. What was he supposed to call him? Every story he had been told about the man in front of him by his father or Remus he had been referred to as Black and the fact that it was always said with hatred didn't make him feel any easier at the moment.  
  
"Hello Mr. Black." Harry finally decided that he couldn't go wrong with that.  
  
Remus snorted behind Harry and quickly covered his mouth when Harry turned around to look at him.  
  
Sirius smiled at him. "Call me Sirius Harry, though Padfoot might be safer at the moment."  
  
Harry nodded. "Why are you...?" Harry trailed off, realizing he had no idea how to act in front of this man and what he could and couldn't ask him.  
  
"Why am I out of Azkaban?" Sirius finished where Harry left off.  
  
Harry nodded nervously, he wasn't sure he felt truly comfortable here.  
  
"Well I've had my trial and was fully pardoned."  
  
Harry looked closely at Sirius. He had most likely just cleaned himself up a bit recently, but still aftereffects could be seen over his face and posture. A slight slouch as he stood said he had been in a confined space that probably wasn't suitable for his height. His eyes were shallow, with large bags under each eye. He also had the appearance of someone weak. His bones were skinny and he was very pale.  
  
"How come it wasn't in the Daily Prophet? I looked for any mention just this morning and there was nothing."  
  
Sirius seemed to light up when he heard that Harry had been looking for articles on him. A glow seemed to come through his eyes.  
  
"The ministry wanted to keep the trial secret, they wouldn't want the public to know that they may have made a huge mistake." Remus replied, walking over to a desk that was in-between Harry and Sirius and sitting on top of it.  
  
"So now that you have been cleared, will there be something that announces your innocence to the public?"  
  
"There should be something before the end of this week." Sirius said, a bit of bitterness seeping through his voice.  
  
This should be a big case, so why was the Daily Prophet not even concerned by the fact that an innocent man was in prison for almost 10 years? Harry was dragged out of his thoughts when he realized he was being spoken to.  
  
"So Harry, have you decided what animal you want to be yet?" Sirius asked out of the blue.  
  
"Animal?" Harry shifted to lean onto his other foot, wondering what Sirius was talking about.  
  
"To become an Animagus of course." Sirius said as if it were obvious.  
  
"Sirius! Even we didn't start researching that until our third year, and it took long enough to happen. Harry is only in his first year. There is no way he is even going to research such a thing, let alone attempt it."  
  
"Oh come on Moony, why not? I bet Harry would be a..." Sirius leaned closer to Harry and studied him carefully. "... I don't know, what do you think Remus? I was never good at picking what animal one should be. I was sure James was going to be a turtle."  
  
"A turtle?" Harry asked, truly wondering why he had picked that animal to be his father out of all of them.  
  
"Yes, he just had that look about him I suppose." Sirius shrugged and leaned away again.  
  
"What did you base that on, I mean if anything, James was totally opposite to a turtle. He was always fast, especially on the Quidditch pitch, he had a normal sized neck, he was not green and if presented in a situation he did not use camouflage and hide." Remus said, acting as though they had entered into a fight that had been going on for years.  
  
"Well one, James liked to do the opposite to what you thought he would do, two, he wasn't that fast on the Quidditch pitch-"  
  
Remus rolled his eyes.  
  
"-three, not all turtles have long necks, four, Not all turtles are green, and besides, I remember that time in second year when you gave James those sweets that you had charmed to taste like vomit-"  
  
"I did not! That was you." Remus said indignantly, although the smile appearing on his face gave away his true feelings.  
  
Sirius waved Remus' comment off and continued talking. "Point is, he turned green faster then you used to flush every time Amy Birch would say two words to you."  
  
Harry laughed as he saw a twinge of red on Remus' cheek. He was enjoying seeing them talk and joke around. He was amazed at how much younger and happier the two looked.  
  
"Sirius, I did not go red whenever-"  
  
"Oh give it up Moony, I didn't believe you then and I don't believe you now." Sirius smiled innocently at Remus. "And lastly, what did you call James' invisibility cloak? I would call that a nice camouflage device he had." Sirius smiled at Remus smugly.  
  
"Why would you charm a sweet to taste like vomit? Don't they already have them in Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?" Harry asked.  
  
"Not in our day Harry, and the one's that Sirius-" Remus emphasized Sirius' name. "-used were a lot stronger then what you get in those packets."  
  
Harry winced, the first vomit flavored bean he had had was a bad experience, it happened when he was a lot younger and he now even up to this day refused to have any colour that resembled yellow.  
  
"So what animal do you think Moony?" Sirius brought the conversation back on track.  
  
"He isn't going to have to worry about that since he is not going to be an Animagus." Remus glared at Sirius, as if daring him to argue that. Sirius smiled and didn't even think twice before replying.  
  
"Why not Remus? It will be a lot safer for him now with all the new developments I'm sure they would have made, and he also has you and me to help him. We never had that and look how well ours turned out."  
  
"Sirius, you are not going to teach Harry to become an Animagus. Not only is he too young, but if Severus found out he would kill you."  
  
"What has Snape got to do with this?"  
  
"Sirius, we talked about this. Severus is Harry's father."  
  
Sirius' good mood seemed to fly out the window and he glared at Remus, but seemed to have great will in keeping what he wanted to say to himself.  
  
Harry started to feel awkward with the sudden silence that fell over them and really wished they were back in their playful mood.  
  
"So Harry, why don't you tell me about yourself?" Sirius asked kindly, sitting at a desk that was behind him.  
  
Harry barely got to open his mouth before he was cut off.  
  
"Actually Harry, you should head off to bed now, its already past curfew." Remus stood up.  
  
Harry looked down at the watch his father had given to him and realized that it was very late. He would have to talk to his father tomorrow, though he did have a pretty good idea why his father was angry at dinner now.  
  
"How about tomorrow, Harry? We can meet back here for dinner and talk after?" Sirius asked, hope tinged his voice.  
  
"I won't be able to be here, I have..." Remus trailed off.  
  
"Did you want me to join you?" Sirius asked quickly.  
  
"No, no, I'll be alright. Severus has already given me the potion that I can take."  
  
"Snape has given you a potion?" Sirius looked skeptically at him.  
  
"Yes, but you both can still meet here if that's alright with you Harry?" Remus looked at Harry.  
  
Harry thought about it, he didn't really know this man, and from the stories he had been told about him, he probably shouldn't since almost all of them he was painted in a not so flattering light, but after tonight, he couldn't help but trust him. "Sure."  
  
Sirius smiled. "So dinner it is then." Sirius stood back up.  
  
"Where are you going Sirius?" Remus asked wearily.  
  
"To walk Harry back to his common room, the walk should do me some good I would think."  
  
"But what if someone recognizes you?" Harry asked.  
  
"Oh, I doubt anyone will." Sirius smiled and then transformed into his dog form.  
  
Harry marveled at him, he hadn't heard much about Sirius' form.  
  
Remus shook his head and then led Harry to the door. "I'll walk with you too, that way I'll be able to explain to any Professor's why you are out past curfew and why there is a dog following you."  
  
"Thanks Remus." Harry smiled at him and opened the door.  
  
"Besides, you tend to find yourself in trouble quite often, and knowing Padfoot, you would probably wind up in those situations a lot more often."  
  
Padfoot drooled all over Remus' robes and then quickly ran a few steps ahead so Remus couldn't grab him.  
  
Harry laughed as he watched both Remus and Padfoot play around. Every once in a while Padfoot would hide behind Harry so Remus couldn't hit him with a well aimed curse.  
  
***  
  
"Where have you been Harry? I was just about to go looking for you." Ron stood up and over to the still laughing Harry.  
  
After bringing himself together Harry walked over to a chair in front of the fire and collapsed onto it. He had been standing for far too long.  
  
"Harry?" Hermione sat in the chair beside him.  
  
Harry smiled at them both, feeling in a very good mood, it had been a while since he was this happy. "I was with Remus-"  
  
"See Ron, I told you he would have just stayed behind to talk to him."  
  
Ron poked his tongue out at her and sulkily sat in a chair on the other side of Harry.  
  
"What did Professor Lupin want Harry?" Hermione pulled out a book as if what Harry would say wouldn't be that interesting and opened up to a page, still listening to Harry but also reading at the same time.  
  
"He introduced me to Sirius Black." Harry answered calmly, trying to take in both their reactions at once.  
  
Ron spluttered and Hermione dropped her book onto the floor.  
  
"Could- could you repeat that. I think I just muddled up what you said with what I was reading."  
  
"Well maybe if you put that book away you wouldn't have that problem." Ron said smugly.  
  
Hermione scowled at Ron and picked up the book that had fallen to the ground. She put it back into her lap but made no move to open it.  
  
"I said that Remus introduced me to Sirius Black." Harry said extra slowly, as if talking to a small child. He was rewarded by a sour look from Hermione and a laugh from Ron.  
  
"So what's he like?" Ron asked, he was quick to skip over the 'how' and 'why' part. Hermione was not.  
  
"Why is he here now? Has he been set free then? I don't remember hearing or reading about a trial. How long will he be here for? Where is he staying? What does Professor Sn-"  
  
"Hermione, please, give me a chance here." Harry gasped out, trying to remember all the questions she had asked. He hadn't even thought to ask some of them. "He seems very nice. He and Remus get along well, he's really funny. Umm... yes he is free, the Ministry kept it all quiet, but he said that there should be something in the Daily Prophet soon. I'm not sure where he is staying, but I would suggest he would be most likely staying with Remus and I have no idea how long he is staying for." Harry took a deep breath; he was starting to feel tired.  
  
"When do we get to meet him?" Ron asked eagerly.  
  
"I'm not to sure. Soon I would say. I'm meeting with him tomorrow night but I don't know if it's a good idea if you come along."  
  
"Why not?" Ron asked, confused.  
  
"That's obvious Ron. He would want to spend time with Harry alone of course." Hermione shook her head at Ron and then looked at her watch. "You should both get to bed, it is getting late."  
  
"What about you?" Ron shot back at her, not willing to admit she was right.  
  
"I will also be going to bed. Goodnight Harry. Ron." She said curtly before getting up and leaving.  
  
Ron shook his head at her until she was out of site. "She's dead annoying sometimes you know."  
  
"That's because you don't like being wrong and she kindly seems to point it out to you when you are." Harry answered back, yawning.  
  
"Yeah, I have you to do that for me." Ron rolled his eyes and stood up, stretching.  
  
"Hey Ron, I'm really sorry about before in class."  
  
Ron smiled. "Don't worry about it Harry, I'm over it."  
  
Harry smiled at him too. "Thanks Ron."  
  
They both headed over to the bottom of the stairs and Harry stopped just before he took his first step.  
  
"What?" Ron too stopped just behind Harry and looked at him curiously.  
  
"You really were an ugly baby Ron." Harry laughed as Ron chased him up the stairs and into their dormitory.  
  
***  
  
Harry was heading towards the Great Hall for lunch then next day when his father caught up to him and led him into an empty classroom. He almost groaned out loud. He had woken up late that morning and had to miss breakfast to make it to his first class on time, and he was absolutely starving now.  
  
Harry stood and watched as his father shut and locked the door, while warding the room so no one could listen in on what was being said.  
  
"You met Black last night." It was more of a statement then a question.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Did he hurt you?" Severus pulled out a chair and moved it so it was facing Harry and then sat in it.  
  
"Hurt me?" Harry asked, frowning at his father, feeling a bit confused.  
  
"It's a simple question Harry." Severus indicated for Harry to sit in a chair that was facing him, just behind where Harry was standing.  
  
"Of course he didn't." Harry sat down and looked at his father carefully.  
  
Severus sighed and looked around the room.  
  
"Is that all you wanted to know, because I'm hungry and I don't want to miss lunch." Harry smiled at him as just after he finished saying that his stomach growled.  
  
Severus rolled his eyes at him but got up anyway. "I was hoping we could talk longer then this Harry-"  
  
"I know and we can talk more tomorrow night after our potion lesson." Harry suggested, he too getting up and starting to head toward the door.  
  
"I was thinking more tonight Harry."  
  
Harry stopped and turned around. "Actually I have some homework I was hoping I could finish tonight." Why was he lying? This was his father, he could tell him anything. "And I was meeting Sirius tonight."  
  
"Black? Why? You just spoke to him yesterday." Severus frowned at him.  
  
"We didn't get to talk much yesterday."  
  
"What about that homework you just mentioned?"  
  
"I can do it after; we won't be too long I'm sure." Harry started to walk backwards towards the door. Partly because he was very hungry and wanted to get to the Great Hall soon, and partly because he had a sneaking suspicion that his father would say he couldn't go tonight.  
  
"Harry, I don't think you should-"  
  
"Please dad." Harry put his best pleading look on his face and almost sighed in relief when he saw his father's resistance crumbling.  
  
"If I find out you were out past curfew Harry-"  
  
"I know, I know. Thank you so much dad." Harry turned and was almost out the door when his father called him back.  
  
"I thought you might like this back. I keep forgetting to give it to you." Severus put his hand in one of his pockets and pulled out the chain he had found by the snake in the forest while looking for Harry and Draco.  
  
"I didn't even realize I had lost it." Harry walked back over to his father and took it, feeling a strange but welcome warmth fall over him as he put it on. "Thanks dad." Harry smiled at his father before walking back over to the door and leaving.  
  
***  
  
A/N: Not too much Severus in this chapter, a lot of Sirius though. I hope he isn't too much out of character... But in the next couple of chapters there most likely will be a confrontation between Sirius and Severus. So that should hopefully be interesting. Hope you all liked it! 


	41. Sirius

Thank you to Dadaiiro, Starlina, Calani, Ms. Padfoot, Erika7, Daffodil, Lady Lightning, Kateri1, Mella deranged, ranger2, Corgi1, chips challenge, athenakitty, princess55, Rose Creighton, BookCrazy77, login for signed review, monique4, Fire'N'Ice, Chaos Kid, Tropic, Jay, star06, palanmenel, Mia, Kemenran, HavenKane, Strawberry Gashes1, Susan Lily Black (triple chocolate cream pie and 30 cookies!! Are you trying to fatten me up here?! Haha, still, thank you for all the food), Shinigami061, shandromand (Thank you for your comments and suggestions, I'll try to be more careful!), BaYer04rulz, Cynthia90, Le Pamplemousse, Kyra2, ice mage1014, MarsMoonStar, Simple Confusion, Victoria, adge9631, Anarane Anwamane, Romm, Cara, Lady Knight of Kennan, Amirathis, PinkFalcon, BornGryffindor (thanks for your honesty), potterpixie, Padawan JanAQ, JoFarries, Dara Maeko and Miss Perfect for reviewing, every single one helps!  
  
Sorry guys, I've just haven't been motivated to do much lately, I'm uninspired, you might say. But I still managed to get this chapter out. I used to love to write this, but lately things are changing. I take the fact that I'm not willing to just post anything up here as a good thing. I still care enough to not want to ruin this story, and I will finish it, it just may take a bit more time then I had wanted it to. I also had a lot more planned for this, but I thought that since it had been so long, I should post what I have, so it will all get moved into the next chapter, which I'm hoping will be out very soon. So here it is:  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 41 - Sirius  
  
Harry looked over at Draco from the Slytherin table and saw him whispering to Goyle. It seemed that even though he had helped Harry escape, not many Slytherins cared. They still treated him the same, probably because they didn't mind Harry. A lot had grown up seeing him all the time, and having his father as the head of Slytherin would have helped as well.  
  
"Harry, look." Hermione placed the Daily Prophet straight in his line of vision and far to close for him to be able to see the words. "Can you believe it Harry?"  
  
Harry couldn't tell whether she sounded happy or angry, so he took the paper from her and placed it at a better distance for him to read. He scanned it and he didn't understand what she wanted him to read.  
  
"Hermione, what am-"  
  
"Down at the bottom, left hand corner Harry." Hermione pointed over his shoulder and at a small article that if not carefully looked at, could be easily missed.  
  
Harry looked closer at it and read.  
  
'Sirius Black Set Free.  
  
Sirius Black has been freed from Azkaban, after a re-trial found him innocent of all charges against him. It is believed a new witness was brought forward, which was what lead to the re-trial. The Ministry has apologized for any inconvenience this may have caused.'  
  
Harry re-read it again and turned the pages over, waiting to see the rest. Finally he realized that that was all there was.  
  
"That's it? That's all Sirius gets after the Ministry wrongfully puts him away in Azkaban." Harry looked at the paper in disgust and threw it down onto the table.  
  
***  
  
Harry walked up to the Defense classroom and stood nervously at the open door.  
  
"Harry, come in." Sirius signalled with his hands for Harry to come over and Harry nervously walked in. "You're early."  
  
"Yeah, I'm sorry, I can come back later if you would like, it's just that I was bored and-" Harry said all in a rush, feeling it wasn't a smart idea to come here.  
  
"Harry, its fine. Honest." Sirius said reassuringly, smiling at him. "Come and sit down, dinner should be appearing soon." Sirius sat down in front of a table that had obviously been put there for this dinner they were having.  
  
Harry walked over and sat in the chair, feeling his nerves starting up again as he noticed Sirius staring at him.  
  
"So...?" Harry really had no idea what to say, but he seemed to have knocked Sirius out of whatever trance he had been in.  
  
"Sorry Harry, it's just, you look so much like James. You even act a bit like him." Sirius smiled warmly at Harry, and his smile brightened even further as food appeared over there once empty plates. "Merlin I missed house elves."  
  
Harry laughed, and seeing Sirius digging in to his food, he too started to eat.  
  
"Do you eat much Harry?" Sirius asked out of the blue as he took another bite out of a chicken leg.  
  
"Eat much?" Harry didn't understand what he meant, or why he would ask that of all questions.  
  
"Well you look too skinny for your age..." Sirius trailed off.  
  
Harry shook his head, how many times had his father said that about him? "Yeah, Dad-"  
  
"Could you do me a favour Harry?" Sirius cut Harry off, and he looked as though he had lost his appetite.  
  
"Sure." Harry looked a bit nervous.  
  
"Could you not call Snape that?"  
  
Harry looked confused. "Pardon?"  
  
"It's just that, I don't think I can handle you calling him that."  
  
"But Sirius, he's my Dad, why wouldn't I call him-"  
  
"Please Harry, can you not call him that, just around me." Sirius looked at Harry hopefully.  
  
Harry bit his lip and thought about it. From Sirius' point of view, it must have been awkward to hear him calling Severus as his father, but he knew his Dad wouldn't see it that way if he heard Harry call him anything else but Dad.  
  
"I don't know Sirius, I can't call him something else forev-"  
  
"I know, just-" Sirius took a deep breath and collected himself. "-just until I get a bit more used to it, okay?"  
  
"Is Severus okay?" Harry could cope with calling him that, but he didn't think he could say Snape. It would be too weird to say that, too... impersonal.  
  
"That will do. Moony already calls him that. Are they friends?" Sirius took a sip of his drink while regarding Harry carefully.  
  
Harry thought about Sirius' question, he hadn't ever thought about it before. "I don't know, I suppose friends is a bit too strong a word for it. They more get along because it would be too much effort to keep fighting. They see each other nearly everyday, and Remus was always over to see me when I was younger, I guess they made peace because of me." Harry shrugged at Sirius, not really sure if what he said made sense, or was true.  
  
Sirius nodded at him and seemed to take in his words. "How's Remus like as a teacher?"  
  
"He's a great teacher, everybody loves him." Harry smiled warmly, thinking about his professor.  
  
Sirius laughed. "I never thought I'd see the day where a Marauder became a teacher."  
  
"I suppose he does let us get away with quite a bit..." Harry thought back to Remus' classes and had to admit that when it came down to it, Remus was a very easy teacher to get away with something.  
  
"What about Snape? I bet his classes are a barrel of fun." The sarcasm was evident, and Sirius looked like he was about to take back what he had just said, more then likely thinking that Harry would get upset, but Harry interrupted him before he could.  
  
"Actually, I don't take Da- Severus' classes, but I did sit in on quite a few. He's okay if you're Slytherin, Gryffindors get it pretty bad though." Harry stopped there and frowned, thinking about Neville again.  
  
"Something wrong Harry?" Sirius took a bite out of his mash potatoes and looked at Harry, seemingly having got his appetite back.  
  
Harry thought about if he should tell Sirius or not. Finally he decided to, it wasn't like he could tell his father.  
  
So Harry told Sirius about Neville, and what his idea was. "I'm just having some trouble thinking of a story."  
  
Sirius smiled mischievously, Harry was fast beginning to learn Sirius' reactions. "Why don't you just leave it to me Harry, I'm sure I'll be able to come up with something..."  
  
Harry narrowed his eyes at Sirius, wondering if he should trust him or not.  
  
"Alright."  
  
***  
  
Sirius was sitting down on Remus' couch when Remus came in. Sirius still found it very boring when class was in, there wasn't much to do. And he wasn't comfortable enough to sit in the Great Hall and be stared at open- mouthed all night. So he just waited.  
  
"Hey Moony." Sirius said while reading a Quidditch book.  
  
"Padfoot, we need to talk." Remus put some pieces of parchment he had onto his desk and walked over to Sirius, sitting next to him. "I think you should lay off spending time with Harry..."  
  
"What?" Sirius looked up from his reading, shocked at Remus' abruptness.  
  
"You've been spending a lot of time with Harry lately."  
  
"Yeah, he's a great kid, a kid who's my godson and who I haven't seen in around ten years."  
  
"Maybe you should, give him a bit of a break." Remus said quietly, seeing Sirius' anger starting to spark up.  
  
"Why, has he said something?" Sirius looked hurt, and he looked away from Remus, thinking back to if ever Harry seemed to not want his company.  
  
"No, no, nothing like that-" Remus winced as Sirius cut him off. The tone was a bit of hurt mixed in with anger.  
  
"Then what's the problem?"  
  
"Well, Severus-"  
  
"What has Snape got to do with this?" Sirius snapped at him.  
  
Remus sighed, this was going to be hard. Sirius didn't see how this was affecting Severus, he probably wouldn't care either, but Severus, try as he might deny it, was feeling jealous of the attention Sirius was getting from Harry. "Sirius, you have to face the fact that Severus is Harry's father now."  
  
"James is Harry's father; nothing is going to change that." Sirius snarled, feeling anger flow freely through him now.  
  
"You know what I mean. You just don't understand-"  
  
"No Moony, it's you who doesn't understand. James would hate it if he knew what his son called Snape, and he would hate you for letting it happen." Sirius yelled at Remus before getting up and stalking out.  
  
Sirius continued to stalk through the halls until he turned the corner and slammed straight into someone.  
  
"Ouch."  
  
Sirius looked down and realized he had knocked over Harry. "Sorry Harry, I didn't see you there." Sirius felt his anger starting to slip away, his adrenaline starting to wear off. He put his hand out and let Harry grab it for support.  
  
"Thanks Sirius." Harry let go of Sirius' hand and dusted himself off.  
  
"Where are you heading at this time of night?" Sirius asked curiously.  
  
"I was just going to see Da- Severus." Harry smiled apologetically at Sirius as they began walking again.  
  
"Come on, you can see him another time. Let's go to Hogsmeade." Sirius took Harry's arm and steered him away from the Dungeons.  
  
"Hogsmeade? But I'm not allowed to-"  
  
"Sure you are, you're with an adult, and I am giving you consent. I am your Godfather." Sirius explained, taking Harry over to a statue of a one-eyed witch.  
  
"Are you sure about this Sirius?" Harry said uncertainly.  
  
Sirius paused and looked carefully at Harry. "If you don't want to go Harry, I won't hold it against you. I just thought you might like to have a bit of fun."  
  
Harry remained quiet, thinking about what was just said. After a couple of minutes he finally looked up at Sirius and smiled, nodding at the same time. 


	42. Blow Up

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And a special thank you to Izzie, who is currently re-writing this fic in French. You're doing a wonderful job! Check her name out to see it.  
  
A Different Life  
  
Chapter 42 - Blow Up  
  
Severus tapped his foot as he waited for Harry to arrive. He had given up a long time ago with trying to make a potion while he waited. He glanced back up at the clock and realised that Harry was now two hours late. Something must have been wrong.  
  
He grabbed his cloak and walked towards the door, manoeuvring the cloak around him as he did. He opened the door and looked down both corridors on either side of him before taking the one that would get him to Gryffindor Tower. There was always the possibility that Harry had just forgotten, or lost track of time.  
  
Severus quickly arrived outside the Gryffindor common rooms and only just managed to get inside before the fat lady could start up a conversation with him.  
  
"Professor Snape." Ron stood up immediately after seeing Severus enter, and then looked behind him as if expecting to see someone, after a couple of seconds of searching he turned his eyes back to Severus. "Is something wrong?"  
  
"I was looking for Harry, is he here?" Severus looked around, glaring at any students that had actually not fled up to their dormitories at the site of him. Most of the older students had stayed, but upon receiving a glare from him, they quickly moved also.  
  
Severus then glared at Hermione, who had put her book down and now stood next to Ron, but she just smiled politely back at him.  
  
"Harry left hours ago to go see you. You mean he didn't turn up?" The colour in Ron's face went pale and a rising worry could be seen in his eyes.  
  
Severus' eyes softened as he looked at Ron, but his face remained blank. "No, he did not."  
  
Ron breathed in harshly, ideas of where Harry could be at that very moment going through his mind. "You don't think- think that-"  
  
"Ron." Hermione cut him off, already knowing what he was going to say. "I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation as to where Harry is. Perhaps he met up with Draco on his way down, Slytherin common room is right near where Professor Snape' private rooms are, perhaps Harry just got caught up with him, and lost track of time."  
  
Ron turned his gaze back to Severus. "Have you asked Draco yet Sir?"  
  
"No, I haven't." Severus mentally felt his heart rate start to go back to normal. That was of course a more likely explanation of what could have happened to Harry, but there was still worry etched into his mind. "I'll go see him now. You both stay in this common room." Severus turned around and calmly walked out of the common room, but as soon as the portrait shut he picked up his pace again.  
  
It didn't take him long to reach Slytherin common rooms, and just as he was about to say the password to get him inside he saw Remus heading towards him in the corner of his eye. He thought about ignoring him and just going in to see Draco, but the thought that he may know where Harry was kept him put.  
  
"Lupin, have you seen Harry?"  
  
Remus stopped in front of Severus and looked thoughtfully for a moment. "No, wasn't he meant to be staying with you tonight?"  
  
"Yes, but he didn't show up."  
  
"I'm sure he is probably just with his friends."  
  
"Perhaps." Severus paused, not seeing any reason to mention that both Ron and Hermione weren't with him. He looked out a nearby window and saw that it was getting a lot darker now. "Why are you here Lupin?"  
  
"Oh, well..." Remus looked a bit awkward for a moment, before continuing on. "...Sirius stormed off earlier, and I was looking for him. I haven't been able to find him anywhere though."  
  
Severus rolled his eyes.  
  
"I was just on my way to see you, so I could ask Harry if I might be able to use the map to see if I could find him that way."  
  
Severus closed his eyes and shook his head. Wondering how many times that map slipped his mind in a situation where he really needed it.  
  
"Well, I was just about to go visit Draco Malfoy to see if Harry was with him. You are free to come along. You can ask him straight off if you can have the map then and search for that mutt."  
  
"Severus, his name is Sirius, why not try to use it."  
  
"Maybe when he starts to act like a human being, I'll start to call him by his name, but while he clearly isn't, I'll continue to call him by what he really is." Severus snapped back.  
  
"It's been years Severus. Can't you let it go?"  
  
"Lupin, mind your own bloody business." Severus hissed at him, before saying the password to open the Slytherin common room up.  
  
Severus stepped in and scanned the room, not seeing Draco anywhere. He grabbed the nearest shoulder, which just happened to be a third year and he spun the poor boy around so he was facing him.  
  
"Malfoy. Get him. Now." The shaking third year boy nodded and raced down the stairs at an incredible speed.  
  
Draco came out a couple of minutes later, walking calmly but looking confusedly at Severus.  
  
"Professor's? Is something-"  
  
"Where's Harry?" Severus snapped at him. He had been hoping that Harry would just come up with Draco.  
  
"Harry? I haven't seen Harry since lunch Sir." Draco looked at Remus, but quickly returned his gaze to Severus. "Harry's missing?"  
  
"You don't know where he is now?" Severus persisted, ignoring Draco's question.  
  
"No Sir-"  
  
Severus turned around and stormed out of the common room, leaving Remus to explain what was wrong to Draco. He turned straight in the direction of the Gryffindor common room, and towards the map.  
  
***  
  
Harry and Sirius were laughing uncontrollably while sitting on the ground of Honeydukes, leaning against a bare wall in the back of the shop. Half the reason the were laughing was that they were having a lot of fun, and the other half was more than likely from the lollies that they had just had, and as the slogan goes: 'A sure thing to bring the saddest of people into a good mood'.  
  
"Sirius-" Harry gasped between laughter. "-we're going to pay for all this aren't we?"  
  
"Course we are Harry, but I think it would be best if we perhaps lay off the sweets for now." Sirius pushed the bag away from himself and sighed out loud, closing his eyes and calming down a bit. After a moment he opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Harry.  
  
"What is it?" Harry smiled at Sirius.  
  
"What do you know about your father, your real father?"  
  
Harry turned his head so he was looking straight ahead and then proceeded to tell Sirius everything he could remember about James Potter, every story he had heard and every detail.  
  
"How do you know all that?" Sirius asked, generally curious.  
  
"Most of it is from Remus." Harry turned his head back so he was facing Sirius, he could see a few tears had escaped Sirius' eyes.  
  
"He told you all that?"  
  
"Yeah, Severus didn't tell me much about him, but Remus always told me stories. My first present from him was a photo album full of pictures of my parents."  
  
Sirius looked away, his good mood suddenly gone. "Are you happy with him?"  
  
"Who? Remus?" Harry asked, confused.  
  
"No, Snape."  
  
Harry's face lit up. "Yes, he-" He bit his lip and tried to find the right words. "He was the first person that I can remember that was nice to me. He took me in and cared for me. He didn't have to do that, but he did. The first person that I can remember having given me something to care for, my own pet. All mine." Harry shrugged, not knowing how else to explain it. "He's my dad. I know James Potter is my father and I do love him, and I feel like I almost know him from what Remus has told me. But Severus is still my father."  
  
Sirius sighed aloud and turned back to Harry, his eyes focused on something just below Harry's face.  
  
"What's wro-" Harry began but was cut off by Sirius.  
  
"Where did you get that?"  
  
"Get what?" Harry felt around his neck where Sirius seemed to be staring at and felt the cool touch of his necklace. The chain that had belonged to his father.  
  
"Remus gave it to be before I came here to Hogwarts, said it would give me good luck." Harry shrugged and placed it back under his shirt, hidden again.  
  
"I never saw James without it, I got the feeling he even slept with it on." Sirius smiled, his eyes glazed over as he remembered a past moment.  
  
"Yeah, well I lost it before, when Draco and I were lost in the forest, but Severus found it and gave it back to me the other day."  
  
"He doesn't care that it was James'?"  
  
"Why would he?" Harry asked confusedly.  
  
Sirius smiled at him. "Never mind Harry, come on, we should head back before anyone realises you have been gone."  
  
***  
  
"Do you think they noticed us missing?" Harry asked as the started to walk away from the witch statue that they had just come out through.  
  
Sirius looked around as he thought. "I doubt it, it's not that late, and nobody was expecting to meet you anywhere right?"  
  
Harry shook his head, feeling slightly relieved by Sirius' words. Looking back at what they had just done, Harry realised that it could have been quite dangerous.  
  
"Come on then, best get you off to bed."  
  
Harry and Sirius only turned the first corner before they saw a dark figure running towards them.  
  
It was his father. They were dead.  
  
"Harry! Are you alright?" Severus stopped in front of Harry, kneeling down to get a better look at him. He quickly began checking Harry for any obvious injuries.  
  
"I'm fine." Harry mumbled, but his father continued to check over him, taking his arm and seeing if anything was wrong with it. "Really, I'm fine." Harry pulled his arm out of his father's reach.  
  
Severus hugged Harry. "I was so wor-" Severus stopped as he heard something hit the ground, something that had fallen out of Harry's pocket.  
  
Severus pulled away from Harry and picked what had fallen up. It was a packet of sweets.  
  
"Err." Sirius scratched the back of his neck, looking extremely uncomfortable.  
  
Severus stood up as quickly as his face went blank. "Black?" His voice was tinted with anger.  
  
"Hello Snape. If you don't mind, I was just taking Harry back to Gryffindor Tower."  
  
Severus narrowed his eyes and pulled out the map he had had in his pocket. He looked from the map, to the sweets in his other hand, and then to Harry's guilty face. Realisation settling in, he glared angrily at Sirius.  
  
"You took him to Hogsmeade?" Severus' words though said quietly and calmly, the anger he felt was clearly evident not only all over his face, but in his posture.  
  
"The boy deserves some fun-" Sirius snapped at Severus.  
  
"FUN!" Severus took a step closer to Sirius. "Do you call fun having Harry caught, tortured and killed? Because that is what could have happened tonight if Voldemort or any of his followers had caught you."  
  
"And by followers, you mean yourself don't you Snape? You are after all, a Death Eater." Sirius took a step closer to Severus, glaring just as hatefully at him.  
  
Severus snarled at Sirius and putting all his energy that he had left, he swung his fist right into the side of Sirius' head.  
  
Upon impact Sirius fell onto the ground. He struggled to get up, but before he could get anywhere close enough to take a swing back at Severus, Remus appeared out of nowhere, standing in his way.  
  
Sirius glared at Remus, trying to get past him, wanting and needing to hit Severus. But he was unable to get past Remus, he was just too strong.  
  
"Sirius, let it go."  
  
Sirius kept struggling, knowing that it was helpless, there was no way he was going to get past. "You saw what he did."  
  
"Sirius just calm down." Remus said more forcefully, pushing Sirius a bit further away from Severus, who was just staring hatefully at Sirius.  
  
Sirius looked from Remus, to Severus, and then to Harry, who was looking alarmed and scared. He finally stopped struggling, and turned back to glaring hatefully at Severus. He pushed Remus roughly away and growled aloud in frustration, before turning around and leaving before he did something that he more than likely wouldn't regret, but would hate to know that Harry had seen.  
  
***  
  
"Sirius! Severus didn't-" Harry started to yell after Sirius, but quickly shut his mouth and turned to his father, his eyes wide. "That was a- I meant to say-" Harry struggled to get his words out, tripping over himself trying to get it all out. "I'm sorry Da-"  
  
"Just go to bed Harry, we'll talk about this tomorrow." Severus waved Harry off before turning around himself and walking away.  
  
Harry watched as his father walked down the dead looking hallway, feeling his heart sink as he did.  
  
He couldn't help but think that this whole mess was his fault.  
  
***  
  
"It's already starting..."  
  
"What is already starting Severus?" Dumbledore sat in his usual chair in his office, trying to understand the troubled man that was currently pacing in front of him, a cloth full of ice wrapped around his hand.  
  
"He's already gotten attached to him, it hasn't even been that long and they act as though... I don't know." Severus stopped pacing and instead glared at one of the snoozing headmasters that was on the wall above Dumbledore.  
  
"Severus, you're Harry's father; nothing is going to change that."  
  
"You could have fooled me. He's already running off to Black."  
  
"Severus, you have to understand that no matter what, Sirius will be a part in Harry's life. But you will always remain his father."  
  
"What good will that be? He likes being with Black, all I seem to do is yell at him nowadays."  
  
"He needs discipline at his age Severus, and you know as well as I do that that is one thing Sirius will lack in doing for him."  
  
Severus snorted. "I could tell you a lot more that Black lacks in."  
  
"Severus, this has to stop. You both need to put the past behind you, if not for your own sake, then for Harry's."  
  
"He took Harry to Hogsmeade tonight, who knows what could have happened there."  
  
"I know, and I am in no way defending Sirius' actions, but can you really blame him?"  
  
"What do you mean? Of course it's Sirius' fault, he-"  
  
Dumbledore held his hand up to stop Severus from continuing on. "You both have been fighting over Harry's time as though it's a contest between you both to spend the most time with him. I'm surprised the poor boy has time to do his homework and actually turn up to his classes."  
  
"Albus that is still no excuse for taking Harry to Hogsmeade, and not only in this dangerous time, but without telling anyone, and with no protection whatsoever."  
  
"And I never said it was. But perhaps he is not the only one to blame."  
  
Severus sighed aloud and sat down onto one of the many chairs Dumbledore had. He looked pensively around the room for a few minutes before dejectedly admitting that Dumbledore was right. "I suppose not... but he is largely to blame." Severus added, as though that made his agreeing with Dumbledore okay, since he wasn't fully letting Sirius out of the clear.  
  
"Of course." Dumbledore nodded his head and smiled at Severus.  
  
"But why would Harry called me Severus, it's been years since he has called me that. Am I doing something wrong?"  
  
Dumbledore stared at Severus, his smile still remaining in place. He knew he was staring at a completely different person as to what he would have been if Severus had not taken Harry in all those years ago. Not only from the emotions that he was showing now, that before he would have hid, but also from the fact that he was confiding in someone, which he never would have done before.  
  
"You're going to have some trying years ahead of you Severus, and I can assure you that you will ask me simular questions in the near future. There is no answer to the question of why he did it, whether it was on his own accord or not, it doesn't really matter. But I wouldn't be too shaken with it, his teenage years will be coming up soon, you'll probably look back and this moment will be nothing compared with what is to come."  
  
***  
  
Remus walked down the dark corridor, the only light source was being mainly blocked as a man sat on the window seal, looking out onto the Hogwarts grounds.  
  
"Sirius." Remus' tone was cold and short, making his anger known.  
  
Sirius turned his head slightly and got a sideway glance at Remus before he turned back and looked out the window.  
  
Remus glared at Sirius before going straight into his lecture mode. "You knew how dangerous it was to take Harry over there-"  
  
"I know I know, I just didn't think anyone would know..." Sirius looked pleadingly at Remus.  
  
"Well the fact that you didn't think is pretty clear here Sirius. I mean Harry could have been harmed, what would you have done if Voldemort had been there? Had attacked? I can't believe you could be so careless!"  
  
Sirius sighed aloud and looked down at his feet.  
  
"I'm sorry Moony, I-"  
  
"Its not me you should be apologising to, its Harry and Severus who you need to apologise to."  
  
"I know, and I will..."  
  
"Oh really, even Severus?"  
  
Sirius looked down at his feet, not replying to Remus' question.  
  
Remus' voice got lower now. "And I can't believe you got Harry to call him Severus in front of you. That is low Sirius, and completely wrong. I know this is hard for you to understand, but Severus cares for Harry, and he is his father. You just need to see them together to know that-"  
  
"I know Moony." Sirius snapped.  
  
"Do you? Tonight's little excursion would suggest otherwise." Remus snapped back, his voice getting louder again.  
  
Sirius sighed again aloud and finally looked up and into Remus' face as he spoke. "I know. I was wrong, I screwed up. It won't happen again. I plan to go apologise to Harry and Snape tomorrow before I..." Sirius trailed off and turned his face back over to the window, looking back out onto the grounds.  
  
"Before you what Sirius?" Remus looked at Sirius in alarm. 


	43. Seeing Snape in a Different Light

_A Different Life_  
  
**Chapter 43 – Seeing Snape in a Different Light**  
  
"I don't belong here Remus." Sirius said sadly.  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"You all have lives, and I've just come in and disrupted them."  
  
"Sirius, don't be-"  
  
"Remus. I need to make my own life here. I just need - I need some time to myself."  
  
"I don't understand-"  
  
"I've gone from one prison to another Remus."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I need to get out, see the world, and see what I've missed. I can't stay here forever Remus."  
  
"What about Harry?"  
  
"What about him? I came here with a notion that he would need me. But he has Snape, and he has you. I'm not sure there is room for me."  
  
Remus looked at Sirius, his eyes softening. He stepped closer to Sirius making him give him his full attention.  
  
"Harry needs you Sirius. Maybe not in the way you had hoped, but he needs you. You are after all, his Godfather."  
  
Sirius snorted. "Great job I've done so far."  
  
"You have. Have you seen how many smiles you've brought to Harry's face? Harry will never stop needing people around who love him."  
  
Sirius sighed.  
  
"Not to mention..." Remus looked out the window that Sirius too had gone back to looking through. "...well I need you Sirius."  
  
Sirius looked up at Remus and smiled.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Remus laughed. "Merlin knows why, you only ever cause trouble."  
  
Sirius tried to look as insulted as he could. "I take offensive to that."  
  
Remus smiled at him, taking his eyes away from the window. "Good."  
  
Sirius laughed, before his mood sobered up again. "I'm leaving Moony."  
  
"You don't have to."  
  
"I know. And I'll still be around. I just need to get my life back."  
  
Remus nodded to him. "I understand."  
  
A few minutes of silence stood between them, the kind that's comfortable.  
  
"When will you be leaving?"  
  
"Soon. I still have a couple of things to do here first."  
  
Remus' gaze went back out the window, watching the forest move with the wind.  
  
"Moony..."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Do you still have a lot of James' things?"  
  
"Yeah I do. A lot was given to me after..." Remus trailed off.  
  
"Do you have a box, red on the outside, nothing on the inside but tissues?"  
  
Remus looked at Sirius. "Yeah – I think I do actually. It seems quite useless. The only reason I kept it was because I knew it was James'."  
  
Sirius laughed. "Good thing you did too. That holds a lot of important stuff."  
  
"Padfoot, it holds nothing but tissues!"  
  
"Yes, unless you know the correct password."

* * *

"Hi Neville, I'm Sirius Black."  
  
Harry rolled his eyes at Sirius, sitting down on a stool in the empty classroom that he, Neville and Sirius were sitting in.  
  
"He knows your name Sirius."  
  
Sirius turned towards Harry. "I was only being polite and introducing myself." Sirius huffed, sitting heavily on a desk and crossing his arms over his chest.  
  
"Why do I think that I'm more mature then you?" Harry said mockingly, smiling as well, just to show he was joking.   
  
Sirius seemed to think about that, taping his chin with his index finger. "I think it's because... you are." Sirius then poked his tongue out at Harry and turned back to Neville.  
  
"So I hear you're a bit scared of Snape?"  
  
Neville nodded his head, though he was shaking so much you couldn't really tell.  
  
"Are you afraid of me?"  
  
Neville looked over at Harry, who smiled encouragingly. "A- A bit."  
  
Sirius smiled at him. "Well don't be. I'm only half as bad as they say."  
  
Harry laughed. "Believe me Neville. Sirius wouldn't harm you. He wouldn't harm anymore."  
  
"I don't know about that Harry. I do recall a time in first year Charms, I was a bit too energetic with my wand moving, nearly poked James' eye out."  
  
Harry laughed and Neville seemed to become less nervous.  
  
"Now, Harry asked me to tell you a story about Snape."  
  
Neville nodded and Sirius seemed to scratch his head in thought.  
  
"Well I have quite a few, but I doubt any will help your cause. I think what you need is to see Snape in a different light. James and I one year were threatened with explosion if we didn't leave Snape alone. And it was killing us to see his smug face around all the time. But we knew we shouldn't really push our luck, so we invented a different sort of prank."  
  
Sirius pulled his hands into his pockets and then when he pulled his hands back out, he was holding two bottles full of some form of clear potion."  
  
"I was lucky enough to be able to get this off Remus, not that he knew what it was."  
  
"What is it?" Harry asked, taking a closer look at it.  
  
"It's a potion. James was a very smart man. He had come across a book that was full of useful potions. After mixing a couple together we were able to come up with this."  
  
"Mixing a couple together? Don't you know how dangerous that is?"  
  
"Harry, don't worry. Everything turned out fine."  
  
Harry rolled his eyes. "Well I guess you wouldn't have been stupid enough to just have tested it on yourselves straight away. What did you test it on first?"  
  
Sirius looked uncomfortable for a moment. "Eh..."  
  
"SIRIUS!" Harry gaped at Sirius.  
  
"I know – It was stupid. Now do you want to know what it is or not?"  
  
"Fine, what is it then."  
  
"Well, it works like an eye drop. Just drop one drop in each of your eyes and say Snape's full name. Then let the magic work." Sirius smirked.  
  
"What potions did you mix together?" Harry asked logically.  
  
"I honestly couldn't tell you, it was that long ago."  
  
"I don't understand. How will this help me?" Neville looked hesitantly at the potion in Sirius' hand.  
  
"Just try it and you'll see."  
  
"Sirius..." Harry crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Sirius in a 'no way is Neville trying that' way. "This isn't quite what I had in mind when I asked you to help out."  
  
"Trust me Harry, you'll understand. You can try some as well. Just do a quick test run of it. It'll only last..." Sirius looked like he was lost in thought for a moment. "I think it wears off in a few hours."  
  
"A few _hours_!" Harry looked at Sirius as if he were crazy.  
  
"Don't worry Harry. Believe me; you'll be thanking me once you see this work."  
  
Harry sighed heavily at Sirius. "And it won't harm Dad at all will it?" Harry had made a point of calling his father just that in front of Sirius now.  
  
"Nothing will happen to him, and no one will see what you're seeing, I swear."  
  
"Okay, we'll give it a go. Won't we Neville?"  
  
Neville looked at Harry wide eyed, but nodded.  
  
"Thanks Sirius... I _think_."  
  
Sirius laughed and ruffled Harry's hair up. "Now off you go, I have a meeting with Dumbledore that I'll be late for if I don't leave now."

* * *

Neville and Harry were walking back in silence when they spotted Severus stalking down a corridor full of students wondering around. It was amazing how many students spent their weekends roaming the hallways.  
  
"Should we try it now?"  
  
"I'm not sure about this Harry..." Neville looked at Harry uncertainly.  
  
"Come on Neville. Sirius wouldn't give us anything dangerous."  
  
Harry pulled Neville into the nearest classroom, which was thankfully empty. He looked at the bottle in his hands and uncorked it. He wondered how on earth he was supposed to pour it in so only one drop came out, but after testing it on his hand, he was able to tip the whole thing over and still, only one drop came out. It must have been charmed.  
  
Harry watched at Neville did them same thing, again just having one drop come out.  
  
Taking a deep breath each, Harry took his glasses off and they both tilted their heads back, lifting each of their bottles over one eye and they each put a drop in, blinking as it made contact.  
  
With both eyes done, they looked down and blinked a couple of times more, getting their vision clear. Harry put his glasses back on and at the same time they muttered: "Severus Snape."  
  
They looked at each other, both not noticing any changes in appearance or anything.  
  
"Should we go outside and see?" Harry asked Neville as he re-corked the bottle and put it away in his pocket.  
  
Neville, having done the same, hesitantly nodded.  
  
They stepped out of the classroom and headed in the direction Severus had walked in. They finally caught up to him, so they were just behind.  
  
"Professor Snape?" Harry called, noticing some students had stopped what they were doing to stare at them.  
  
Harry watched as his father turned around. He looked normal.  
  
"What is it Mr. Potter?" Severus replied coldly.  
  
Harry felt his heart sink slightly at that, hearing his fathers tone. His eyes sunk to the ground. He was still upset about the other night. Beside him he heard Neville gasp.  
  
Harry looked from Neville, to where he was looking at, which was directly at Severus.  
  
Harry first saw Severus' hair stretch to an unbelievable length, and then watched in slight fascination as it turned blonde, curls running through it.  
  
Harry then looked wide eyed as Severus' nose curled around itself, going blue as it did.  
  
Harry laughed as he saw all the changes happening to Severus, only vaguely realizing that he and Neville were the only ones that were.  
  
Then his teeth started to grow, becoming fatter and longer, escaping his mouth and falling to the length of the floor.  
  
That was it, Harry was gone. He fell to the floor laughing, beside him Neville doing the same thing. He was sure he had never seen something so funny before.

* * *

"Welcome Sirius. I see you're on time for once." Dumbledore smiled at Sirius and offered him a lemon drop.  
  
Sirius grinned back and took one. "Am I still the only one who accepts these?"  
  
Dumbledore laughed. "I do believe so. I actually had an inkling once that when you felt like having a sweet, you would purposely get sent up here."  
  
Sirius looked sheepishly at Dumbledore, but popped the sweet into his mouth. "There did always seem to be something good out of being sent to your office I guess."  
  
"Well I'm glad no one else has picked up on your way of thinking."  
  
"You mean Harry hasn't yet?" Sirius smirked at Dumbledore.  
  
"Not yet. Although it is still early days."  
  
Sirius laughed and went back to sucking the lolly in his mouth.  
  
"I actually had something to ask you Sirius."  
  
"Yeah? And what might that be?"  
  
"Well, as you know, there is a teaching spot open here at Hogwarts..."  
  
"You're not asking me what I think you're asking me, are you?"  
  
"Would you teach Transfiguration for me?"  
  
"Professor! You do know I spent more time_ in_ detention then in class?"  
  
"Yes, I believe I remember quite a few teachers complaining about your complete lack of respect to any rules." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with mirth.  
  
Sirius shook his head. "And people think _I'm_ the one that's crazy."  
  
Dumbledore laughed. "Would you at least consider it?"  
  
"I'm not sure I would be any good as a teacher, especially Transfiguration."  
  
"Nonsense, you're an Animagus after all. How many people can say they've accomplish that?"  
  
Sirius ducked his head.  
  
"And, it would give you a chance to see Harry more, as well as Remus."  
  
"This is for next year right?"  
  
"Well I was hoping you could start as soon as possible."  
  
Sirius sighed at that and looked around the room. He couldn't remember the amount of times he had been in the same very office in trouble, and now he was in here being offered a job, as a teacher no less.  
  
"I'm sorry Professor. But I was hoping to leave here in the next few days. Get some fresh air into me, see the world I've missed, clear my head. I'm not sure I'll be back ready for the school year, definitely not to teach this year."  
  
Dumbledore smiled at Sirius. "Well, that sounds like a wonderful idea. But I hope you won't forget my offer."  
  
"Of course not. I will still consider it. Thank you Professor."  
  
"Please, call me Albus."

* * *

Severus looked in astonishment as he saw Harry's face change from one of heartbroken, to one of laughter. Both he and Neville had looked at him in amazement, their eyes getting bigger and bigger as they watched him.  
  
Finally they started laughing uncontrollably, even falling to the ground.  
  
Severus definitely hadn't been expecting this. He felt quite self conscious, wondering if one of the students had done something to him while his attention had been on Harry and Neville, but he found that no one else was laughing. In fact they looked as surprised as he felt.  
  
Severus could vaguely remember something like this happening years ago, but he brushed that thought off, grabbing both Harry and Neville by the collar and pulling them to their feet. They still continued to laugh, both grabbing their stomachs from the pain of laughing so hard.  
  
Severus dragged them to Dumbledore's office and hissed the password out, practically throwing Harry and Neville into Dumbledore's office.  
  
Both Dumbledore and Sirius stood up straight away.  
  
"Albus, I'm not sure what's wrong. I tried every counter curse I can think of, they won't stop."  
  
Sirius walked over to Harry and Neville, who were still on the floor, laughing harder each time they caught a glimpse of Severus.  
  
Sirius kneeled down beside them, grabbing their chins with each hand. "Shhh... Just calm down." Sirius just kept repeating those words to them until they slowly started to slow down a bit, finally taking deep breaths, trying to get the air back into their lungs.  
  
Sirius smiled at them. "So I guess it worked then?"  
  
Harry and Neville immediately had the picture of Severus back into their head and again started laughing.  
  
Dumbledore sighed in amusement, and Severus narrowed his eyes at Sirius.  
  
"What did you do to them Black?"  
  
"Nothing that won't wear off in a few hours."  
  
"A FEW HOURS?!" Severus yelled at Sirius, taking a step towards him.  
  
Harry and Neville glanced back over at Snape and it sent them into a set of laughter, much worse this time.  
  
"The best thing you can do right now Snape, is leave. The more they see you, the worse the picture they'll get." Sirius smirked at Severus as he glared at him.  
  
"I think for now it would be best if you were to leave Severus. I'll send Harry down to speak to you later on."  
  
Severus glared one last time at Sirius before stalking out of the room.

* * *

Sirius went back to Harry and Neville, trying to calm them down.  
  
"I guess it would have been best if I had let you test this on me. That way it wouldn't have been such a shock to you when you first saw Snape."  
  
Harry slowly nodded, as he began to get his breath back. His face and stomach were really starting to hurt from laughing so hard.  
  
"You know, come to think of it. The first time James and I did it, we were in a Transfiguration class. I don't think I've ever heard Professor McGonagall scream so loud. I believe we got sent up here and detention for a month with Filch. But it was worth it. It would send Snape mad not knowing what we were laughing at."  
  
"I believe I remember that day..." Dumbledore muttered pensively. Shaking his head out of his thoughts, he looked back at the three of them sitting on the ground in front of his desk. "Now how about one of you explain this all to me. I never did get quite the full story with James and yourself Sirius."  
  
Sirius smiled at Dumbledore. "We were able to elude your questions weren't we?"  
  
"Hmm... So how about now you let an old man have some peace."  
  
Sirius shook his head smiling, and with a quick look at Neville and Harry, dived into the story of James and himself.  
  
Dumbledore sat still, giving Sirius his full attention, most of the time having his hand up to cover his mouth, hiding his smile.  
  
"So why did you get it out now? And why give it to Harry and Neville?" Dumbledore asked.  
  
Sirius looked to Neville to continue on.  
  
"I- I'm quite scared of Professor Snape sir." Neville whispered.  
  
Dumbledore looked kindly at Neville, before Harry continued on.  
  
"I thought that if perhaps Neville could see Dad and not feel so scared, then maybe it would be easier for him. So I asked Sirius to help me." Harry shrugged apologetically at Dumbledore.  
  
"May I see this potion?" Dumbledore asked.  
  
Harry reluctantly pulled the potion bottle out of his pocket, handing it over to Dumbledore. He thought for sure he wouldn't be seeing it again, but Dumbledore merely admired it and then handed it back to Harry. Harry noticed Neville had made no move to give Dumbledore his bottle.  
  
"I never knew James and yourself had such a knack for potions." Dumbledore looked over at Sirius.  
  
Sirius smiled, knowing they got it purely on luck and a bit of knowledge on James' side. "We were best in our class sir."  
  
Dumbledore laughed, obviously not quite believing that. "I'm sure Severus would be interested to know what you used to get this."  
  
Dumbledore looked back to the three of them. "Well, I trust you all have better things to be doing right now besides sitting in my office and talking. I would suggest Harry, Neville that you both keep your distance from Professor Snape for a little while."  
  
Neville and Harry smiled, still having a clear picture of Severus in their heads. Harry didn't quite think he would ever forget seeing his father like he had, especially wearing a pink _tu-tu_.  
  
"Now off you go."  
  
All three got up, but only Harry didn't move towards the door.  
  
"Sorry Professor, but could I have a word in private?"  
  
"Of course Harry." Dumbledore waited until both Neville and Sirius had left before continuing. "What is it?"  
  
Harry shifted his feet for a moment before looking up into Dumbledore's eyes. "Where will Draco be staying for summer holidays? I mean, he's not going back with is father, is he?"  
  
Dumbledore looked kindly at Harry. "No, he will not. Where he goes though will be up to Draco himself. I do believe there is an Aunt of his that is willing to care for him. But if need be, other arrangements could be made."  
  
Harry nodded, mentally telling himself to have a word with Draco sometime that day.  
  
"Thank you. You have a good day sir." Harry smiled at Dumbledore before walking towards the door.  
  
"I will Harry. Do try not to get into any more mischief."  
  
Harry laughed. "I'll try not to Albus."  
  
"Oh and Harry, be sure to see your father soon."  
  
Harry nodded his head quickly, hoping to escape out of the office.  
  
"He was quite upset the other night."  
  
Harry paused at the door, looking down at the ground. "I know."  
  
Harry then exited, quietly closing the door behind him.

* * *

"Neville?" Harry asked, as he saw Neville leaning against the wall opposite to the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office.  
  
"I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am for today."  
  
Harry smiled at Neville. "You're welcome Neville. I had a lot of fun." Harry laughed after that. Today was definitely a day he wouldn't forget. "I just hope it helped."  
  
Neville smiled brightly at Harry. "I think it did." 


End file.
